Germany-based contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) for biopharmaceuticals Rentschler Biotechnologie recently announced the opening of a new facility with an innovative twin system that consists of two stainless steel bioreactors for the manufacturing of cell culture – complemented by directly connected equipment for protein purification.

With the announcement made last month, Rentschler Biotechnologie stated that the new facility at the company’s site in Laupheim, Germany, would have two 3 000 ℓ bioreactors for the manufacture of cell culture.

The system increases Rentschler’s manufacturing capacity for the second time in a year. In 2015, a 2 000 ℓ single-use bioreactor was put into operation at a Rentschler facility.

With the growing demand for biopharmaceuticals and increased industry manufacturing outsourcing, Rentschler made the decision to adopt more than double its manufacturing capacity, investing a total of €24-million.

The twin system, which uses state-of-the-art technology, was completed three months ahead of schedule.

Proteins for the clinical development of drug candidates, as well as already approved drugs, will be produced – for example, those used for the treatment of cancer and inflammatory diseases.

“The growing demand for biopharmaceuticals and the rising number of drug candidates in clinical development was recognised by Rentschler early on. For this reason, the company was strategically expanding its manufacturing capacity in 2015,” says Rentschler Biotechnologie CEO Dr Frank Mathias.

He adds that, a year later, the company has completed another major expansion step and achieved an important milestone for Rentschler.

“An increase in sales of over 30% in the past two years has enabled us to make this significant investment. We have already received manufacturing orders for the new facility extending into 2018. Increasingly, our growth is being driven by international business, with more and more orders coming from abroad, particularly the US,” Mathias says.

With the continued growth of the biopharmaceuticals industry and the company’s own growth and success, Rentschler plans to significantly increase the size of its workforce by creating about 200 new jobs in future.

“The company is looking to hire a variety of skilled employees, including process engineers and laboratory technicians in bioprocess development and manufacturing as well as good manufacturing practice experts as it continues to expand its business,” Mathias adds.

The twin system consists of two 3 000 ℓ stainless steel bioreactors designed to run the two bioreactors in parallel or staggered with one shared downstream processing unit. It will provide higher throughput while, at the same time, reducing costs.

Mathias says the system integrates well into the existing 3 000 ℓ facility.

Rentschler Biotechnologie is a CDMO for bioprocess development and biomanufacturing, as well as the development of regulatory strategies.