Genezen’s aggressive approach has not been aggressive enough says firm as a second phase expansion begins earlier than expected at its lentiviral vector plant.  

Gene therapy contract development manufacturing organization (CDMO) Genezen Laboratories has completed construction of a 75,000+ square-foot lentiviral vector production facility in Indianapolis, US and says the next phase of the expansion is underway.

The firm said it had allocated space for future expansions but did not expect to be initiating the next phase of the project so soon, citing high demand from current and future clients as the reason it has been brought forward.

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“Based on what we believed to be aggressive business growth projects, we anticipated starting the Phase II expansion 18-24 month after completion of the Phase I project,” a spokesperson for Genezen told BioProcess Insider.

“Clearly, our aggressive growth projections were not aggressive enough. We ended up starting the initial conceptual design work for phase two prior to even having phase one fully complete. If our growth continues at the current pace, we may have to start contemplating a phase three expansion earlier as well.”

According to the CDMO, the next phase of the expansion will support increased lentiviral and retroviral vector demand, which includes analytical development, additional process development, quality control labs, cell banking and vector manufacturing suites with an extended warehouse.

Double capacity

Genezen claims the next phase of the expansion will more than double its capacity and said the final cost “may be equivalent to what was invested in phase one,” but cannot confirm financial details as “external factors such as supply chain limitations and inflation are factored in.”

Genezen would not disclose what customers it is experiencing high demand from and Bill Vincent, founder & executive chairman of Genezen told us the company sees “client relationships as sacred. So, as part of our company culture we believe in maintaining the confidentiality of our clients both in their identity and the nature of their product and process development plans. If any of these clients chooses to disclose their relationship with Genezen, then we would support them in that, but it is not our disclosure to make.”