Just – Evotec Biologics opens new J.POD facility in France

Biologics platform company Just – Evotec Biologics announced the grand opening its J.POD biologics development and manufacturing facility in Toulouse, France at Evotec’s Campus Curie. The new facility is the company’s second J.POD facility, following its US counterpart that the company opened in 2021 in Redmond, Washington.

The Toulouse facility promises to bolster the Just – Evotec’s capabilities at the Campus Curie site, which already boasted a number of fully integrated discovery capabilities. The J.POD facility adds end-to-end product and process development capabilities, including cell line development, up and downstream processing, and formulation development in addition to early and late stage clinical supply and commercial manufacturing.

“J.POD is a bioprocessing facility by Just – Evotec Biologics that uses advanced technology to fulfill its mission of making biotherapeutics more accessible worldwide. The opening of J.POD Toulouse, France, our first J.POD on European ground, represents a proud moment and a significant milestone for our company,” said Christian Wojczewski, CEO of Evotec. “We also want to give special credit to our dedicated team, whose hard work and commitment made this possible.”

Just – Evotec built the new facility in 18 months after breaking ground in 2022. It is about 15,000 square meters and consists of quality control and process development laboratories. The company said that the facility was designed for enhanced environmental sustainability to save water, electricity, and chemical usage when compared to conventional facilities.

Linda Zuckerman, EVP and global head of biotherapeutics at Just – Evotec Biologics, said “J.POD is an innovative technology that not only scales biologics manufacturing but also ensures availability precisely where it’s needed.” She added that the second facility extends the company’s capacity to discover and develop biologics and deliver them to patients. “Our Toulouse-based team at Just – Evotec Biologics deserves immense credit for bringing the J.POD facility and its capabilities to France and the EU.”

The government of France helped to fund the construction of the facility in Toulouse through its Investments for the Future programme (PIA), which was launched in 2010 to support economic growth in the country. The government has committed €57 billion ($63.6 billion) to fund a range of projects from different industries from agriculture to biotechnology.