ADC Biotechnology (ADC Bio) – a specialist ADC contract services company with proprietary conjugation technology designed to overcome process and aggregation challenges during the development of new antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) – announces the signing of a partnership agreement with multi-disciplined engineering specialists, WHP.
Development work will now start on the construction of the dedicated bioconjugation facility at the company’s new site in Deeside, North Wales, UK. The contract follows the announcement in September of ADC Bio securing $11 million in funding to establish manufacturing operations for the supply of ADCs for human clinical trials. The new facilities will provide much needed capacity to its global ADC clients from its newly acquired Deeside facility, which is planned to be operational in September 2018.
The design, planning and building work commences immediately and will deliver a purpose-built, dual stream facility, which will occupy approximately 60% of the available 6,500m2 space. This deal will support phase 1 of construction, which includes a facility for clinical and small-scale commercial production of ADCs. Further construction activity is planned post January 2019 as the company continues its expansion and adds more capacity for large scale clinical, commercial and potential dosage form production (fill/finish).
Charlie Johnson, CEO of ADC Bio said: “We are delighted to have forged this agreement with WHP. We specifically selected them as we found that their established reputation and industry recognition for high-quality design and construction of integrated systems and cleanroom technology – specifically within the Biotechnology sector – made them the best fit for our needs. We look forward to a long-term relationship with them as we plan ahead and increase both capacity and our down-stream capabilities to meet the sectors significant growth forecasts.”
Ian Lichfield, CEO of WHP, said: “These are exciting times for ADC Bio and WHP is thrilled to be supporting such a significant development milestone that will contribute ground-breaking solutions to human medicine. Our successful collaborations with Biotechnology companies and the wider Pharmaceuticals industry creates synergies with ADC Bio and adds value to the construction project. We look forward to a long and fruitful partnership with ADC Bio as the first stage of construction progresses to a second planned phase in 2019 in line with their strategy for expansion.”