Spain’s mAbxience adding another 4kL single-use bioreactor

mAbxience is installing another ABEC 4,000 L single-use bioreactor at its facility in León, Spain.

Biologics contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) and biosimilar supplier mAbxience installed an ABEC 4,000 L single-use bioreactor (SUB) system in 2021 to “significantly increase” capacity at the facility in León, located around 250km northwest of Madrid.

Now the firm, a joint Venture between Fresenius Kabi and Insudpharma,  is doing it again, with another 4,000 L bioreactor set to be installed at the plant, which – the firm claims – will make it the largest single-use biologics manufacturing facility in Spain, with more than 25,000 L of capacity.

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“Today’s announcement is testament to the hard work of our people that have grown mAbxience from its inception to the leading business it is today,” said CEO Emmanuelle Lepine.

The León plant is one of three GMP plants operated by mAbxience and was added through the acquisition of Genhelix biopharmaceutical in 2014.

The expansion follows an investment last August by Fresenius Kabi, which saw the German life sciences firm take a €495 million ($543 million) majority stake in mAbxience.

At the time, Fresenius said the acquisition strengthens its biomanufacturing footprint and strengthens its biosimilars portfolio.

mAbxience has several biosimilars approved across global markets. It launched its version of Roche’s Mabthera (rituximab) in 2014, while a version of Roche’s Avastin (bevacizumab) was launched in Latin America in 2016, and in the EU and US in 2021 and 2022 respectively.