Manufacturing & Production Services

 
  The Pilot Bioproduction Facility (PBF) offers a comprehensive suite of services to support the development and manufacturing of biologics for early-phase clinical trial material production. Our services are designed to be flexible and scalable to meet the unique needs of each project.   
 

Viral Product Services

 
  We provide dedicated BSL-2 production services for attenuated and inactivated viral vaccines as well as live challenge virus strains.
  • Adherent Upstream Processing: We support large-scale cell growth using fixed bed bioreactors (equivalent to 120-360 roller bottles) as well as traditional roller bottle and cell stack methods
  • Viral Banking: Creation of Master/Working viral banks (up to 200 vials each).
  • Strain Production: We can produce live challenge viral strain
  • Containment: Our viral suite features independent air handling and Vaporized Hydrogen Peroxide (VHP) decontamination to ensure a closed, sterile environment for every campaign.
 
 

Non-Viral Services

 
  Our facility supports a broad range of non-viral production needs.

Microbial Services
  • Fermentation & Culture: We offer microbial fermentation from 1L to 400L scale and mammalian cell culture up to 40L scale (with plans to support up to 500L in 2028)
  • Cell Banking: Creation of Master/Working cell banks (up to 200 vials each).
  • Bacterial Production: Services include the production of bacterial challenge strains and live attenuated bacterial vaccines
  • Harvest: We utilize scalable equipment like a stacked disk centrifuge and tangential flow and depth filtration systems for efficient product separation and purification.

mRNA Production Services

Our facility is equipped for modern mRNA production capability, including in vitro transcription services with an approximate output of 1 gram of mRNA (up to 300 mL IVT scale).

We offer lipid nanoparticle (LNP) encapsulation & liposome production services.

Purification Services

We offer expert, scalable purification for recombinant proteins, mRNA, and other products, utilizing a range of techniques:
  • Depth Filtration
  • Chromatography
  • Tangential Flow Filtration (TFF)
 
 

Fill & Finish Services

 
  Our team can take your product to the final step with our formulation and filling services.
  • We provide formulation for both viral and non-viral drug products.
  • Our aseptic fill finish service includes manual filling for lots of up to 2,000 vials, qualified for vial sizes from 2mL to 20mL.
  • We offer lyophilization (freeze-drying) capabilities to improve the stability and shelf-life of your final product.
 
 

Quality & Analytical Services

 
  Our quality control and analytical teams provide critical support throughout the entire manufacturing lifecycle.
  • Our services include in-process quality testing during manufacturing and analytical testing for product release.
  • Stability Testing: We conduct stability testing for both Drug Substance and Drug Product to establish shelf-life and storage conditions.
  • Process & Analytical Development: Our team provides process scalability assessments, manufacturing process development, technology transfer, and the development of product-specific analytical tests.
 

 

 

Capabilities

 
 
         
   
  • BSL-2 fermentation (up to 400 L scale)
  • Harvest/cell separation
  • Purified protein production in mammalian cells, bacteria, and yeast
  • BSL-2 live virus production and inactivation
  • Fixed bed bioreactor
  • Purification, conjugation 
   
  • Formulation & fill/finish, including lyophilization 
  • Analytical/Quality Control
  • Viral assays/clinical immunogenicity testing
  • Stability studies
  • Quality Management System, full cGMP compliance for Phase 1
   


 

 
     

Case Study: Rapid Process Development and Manufacturing of a Pan- Coronavirus Vaccine

 
     
  • Mammalian Cell Line: Development cells are expanded under optimized growth conditions
  • Transfection for Protein Expression: Cells are transiently transfected to express a Spike Ferritin Nanoparticle (SpFN) protein
  • Harvest & Purification: Cells are harvested and the SpFN protein is purified 
  • Formulation and Fill: Bulk vaccine is formulated and dispensed into vials 
  • Quality Control: The vaccine is tested, then released for use in Phase 1 clinical studies
  • Stability: Stability studies continue while the product is in clinical testing