Rentschler Biopharma, global biopharmaceutical CDMO, broke ground at its new production site, adjacent to its existing site in Milford, MA. The new Rentschler Biopharma Manufacturing Center US (RBMC US) will add 22,000 sq.-ft. of manufacturing cleanroom space and house four new 2,000 L single-use bioreactors. The site is designed to be easily adaptable to meet clients’ changing needs. The RBMC US is expected to become operational in late 2023.
 
The design features upstream ballroom processing sized for production flexibility. The downstream processing suites are equipped with buffer storage and preparation space. The building design can accommodate future adaptations for scale and capacity.
 
The site will include expanded quality control (QC), development, and warehousing capabilities and will be highly automated leveraging industry 4.0 solutions. It will provide digital and analytical services, such as advanced analytics yield optimization, augmented/virtual reality-enabled operations and no-touch batch releases.
 
Dr. Martin Kessler, CEO of Rentschler Biopharma Inc., the wholly owned U.S. subsidiary, said: “We are excited to significantly expand our U.S. facility to effectively service our clients’ growing needs. This is a very timely step, as the biopharma CDMO market is expected to grow by double digits over the next years, and RBMC US will play a pivotal role in our plans to continually outperform the overall market development. This new site will double our commercial cGMP manufacturing capacity. By bringing in state-of-the-art technology and industry 4.0 solutions, RBMC US will strongly enhance our value proposition in commercial manufacturing.”
 
The new site will significantly expand the company’s U.S. offering in terms of capacity and diversity of projects. The current Milford site has gone from a single-product commercial facility to producing multiple products in up to 500 L bioreactor set up. The new facility will add much-needed space for manufacturing, as well as enabling U.S. operations to centralize support services for seamless production.