FRANCE – Clean Cells has launched analytical activities at its €22 million (US$24.1m) new facility based in Montaigu-Vendée.

Clean Cells is part of the Clean Biologics group, a provider of biopharmaceutical product quality control services and manufacturer of starting materials.

The site offers four times more laboratory space than the previous building. From the €22 million (US$24.1m), €5.5 million (US$5.81m) is for new equipment.

Covering a total of 5,300m2 (57,000ft2), including 2,800m2 (30,100ft2) of laboratories, it is the largest biopharmaceutical testing site in Europe.

Customers will have access to the same fast response from the Clean Cells teams, now with additional high-quality equipment, including a state-of-the-art monitoring system, providing better pharmaceutical organization.

The new bespoke building will enable the company to develop its activities in innovative sectors, such as gene therapy, with the implementation of new tests in its catalogue to meet the needs of the market.

It will also allow the company to offer new and improved innovative platforms, including Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) and karyotyping.

“We’re very proud to have started our activities in these new facilities, as planned. This project is the culmination of five years of planning, design and construction to support the company’s growth in response to market demands,” said Joseph Jammal, CEO of the Clean Biologics group.

“The Clean Cells teams have managed the transfer outstandingly well, allowing us to continue to work on our customers’ projects with the highest standards while setting up additional innovative platforms.”

This new laboratory space provides Clean Cells, which has proven expertise in quality control, especially in viral safety and genetic stability, with much greater potential for strong growth.

Testing capacities are multiplied by four and cell bank production capacity has doubled, enabling Clean Cells to respond even more swiftly to client requests and accelerate the development of biopharmaceutical drugs.

New and improved safety tests will allow the company to actively assist clients through the regulatory process.

“The consistent involvement and high level of competence of our teams has enabled us to seamlessly transfer activities to our new quality control laboratories; ensuring continuity of service for our customers,” said Gwenaël Autret, head of quality control at Clean Cells.

“These new laboratories will allow us to accelerate the development of Clean Cells’ services by significantly increasing our biosafety testing, and cytogenetic and potency assay capacities.”

Clean Cells plans to recruit 20 new staff in 2023 to help deliver its new high-quality services.

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