FRANCE – GTP Bioways, a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) specializing in biotherapies and nanotherapies, is set to invest US$14 million in two new biopharmaceutical production lines at its Toulouse, France.
The first line will be dedicated to microbial production (bacteria and yeast). It will be operational in the first quarter of 2023, with a capacity of 300L, allowing GTP Bioways to respond to a rapidly growing market.
GTP Bioways claims to be France’s only CDMO with a GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) unit for producing proteins with therapeutic or vaccine applications, as well as enzymes for manufacturing mRNA vaccines and synthetic DNA.
The GTP Bioways project won first place in the French government’s ‘Capacity Building’ call for proposals, which was spearheaded by French investment bank Bpifrance as part of the France Relance scheme.
The Programme d’Investissements d’Avenir has funded the microbial production unit project with €5.9 million (US$6.9 million).
The second pharmaceutical manufacturing unit is intended for mammalian cell culture on a 10L scale. GTP Bioways will be able to produce small batches of proteins and antibodies ranging from a few milligrams to a few grams with this second unit for a variety of applications.
From fourth quarter of 2022, the unit will be able to produce biomolecules for vaccines as well as RMPU (Raw Materials for Pharmaceutical Use) for cell therapy production.
This is a rapidly growing need that only a few European CDMOs can currently meet. GTP Bioways recently received a contract from Tours University to manufacture the first clinical batches of a nasally administered SARS-CoV-2 vaccine.
Eric Devic, CEO of GTP Tech. said: “We are one of a select group of companies in Europe who are able to provide process development and manufacturing services to biotechnology companies that are working on innovative treatments. The current biomedicine production capacity in France and Europe is not sufficient to meet burgeoning demand. By investing in domestic production lines, we can respond to this situation.”
GTP Bioways’ new production units are perfectly aligned with the French government’s initiative to reintroduce industrial activity to the country.
This was clearly demonstrated by the ‘Grand Défi Bioproduction’ program, which was launched in 2020 with the goal of developing a domestic biomedicines industry.
Looking beyond the current COVID-19 pandemic, one of GTP Bioways’ goals is to become a preferred partner for biotechnology companies developing novel treatments.
This would see the company contribute to the production of biopharmaceutical products in Europe, specifically in France, thereby strengthening the country’s ability to meet its own biomedicine needs.
GTP Bioways is consulting with V3ie, a Validapro subsidiary, to help with the building’s engineering and compliance with international regulations in order to launch these units quickly.
Similarly, GTP Tech, a member of the GTP Bioways group with production facilities in Toulouse and Labège, plans to more than double its workforce.
It intends to meet the demands of this new site by expanding its production and quality assurance teams, as well as increasing its workforce from 45 in 2021 to nearly 100 in 2025.
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