GE bolsters off-the-shelf facility offering in Pharmadule deal

GE Healthcare has entered into a partnership with Pharmadule Morimatsu to optimize and expand supply of its off-the-shelf biomanufacturing platform, KUBio.

Demand for modular off-the-shelf manufacturing platforms is high, due to the speed of construction and operation, flexible use, and capital cost-saving.

One of the suppliers of such technologies is GE Healthcare, which touts its KUBio platform as a “factory in a box,” capable of producing biologics, vaccines, viral vector-based therapies, and other modalities.

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Now the bioprocess vendor has teamed with Pharmadule Morimatsu to augment its offering, with the Swedish modular facility specialist set to provide engineering design, construction, installation, and validation services, based on GE Healthcare Life Sciences’ proprietary design.

“GE Healthcare Life Sciences is expanding its relationship with Pharmadule to include the manufacture of our KUBio facilities,” said GE spokesperson Claudia Pricop.

“We are also working with Pharmadule on the optimization of our KUBio facility platforms, including the KUBio facility for BSL-1 manufacturing, the KUBio facility for BSL-2 manufacturing – viral vaccines and viral vectors – and the KUBio facility for cell therapy.”

She added the relationship with Pharmadule will help expand the platform and strengthen GE’s “supply chain position.”

To date, more than 60 manufacturers have selected GE Healthcare’s FlexFactory single-use bioprocess platform and/or the KUBio platform.

“The KUBio platform is indeed a success story,” said Pricop. “Increased speed to market, adaptability, and flexibility are quintessential characteristics of the KUBio brand. This is something that we always strive to leverage through our collaborations with industry specialists, like Pharmadule.”

GE recently teamed up with cleanroom production firm Germfree to develop its KUBio platform for use with emerging biotherapeutics and gene therapies.

“Collaborations with industry partners add enormous strength to our supply chain,” Pricop added.