San Sebastián, Spain–headquartered Viralgen, has opened a new factory in Basque Country in northern Spain.
The company focuses on manufacturing adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors, which are used in gene therapy and some vaccines.
Since 2018, Viralgen has offered AAV manufacturing for customers working in preclinical through Phase 2 development programs. The company has licensed its Pro10 AAV platform from AskBio.
The first phase of investment in the facility represents a €70 million investment (approximately $83 million). The company plans on spending a total of €120 million (roughly $142 million) after the construction of two additional buildings is completed.
A total of 250 people will work in the facility in 2022. Of that total, some 130 will be new hires.
The inauguration of Viralgen’s new facility occurred on June 30, 2021.
Formed in 2017, Viralgen was a joint venture between Asklepios BioPharmaceutical Inc. (AskBio) and Columbus Venture Partners.
Viralgen now belongs to Bayer (ETR:BAYN) following its 2020 acquisition of AskBio.
“Viralgen is going to play a key role in the development of Bayer’s growing cell and gene therapy business and help many companies to bring their ideas successfully to market,” said Wolfram Carius, executive vice president for cell and gene therapies at Bayer, in a statement.
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