Abzena Announces Major Investment in Bioconjugation & ADC Capabilities in Response to Increasing Industry Demand

Abzena recently announced a significant expansion of their Bristol, PA bioconjugate development and cGMP manufacturing site. The $5-million investment in expanded laboratory space, new equipment, and facility upgrades, builds upon the site’s existing bioconjugation capabilities and increases capacity to support the delivery of fully integrated biopharmaceutical drug programs.

This latest investment provides a major boost to the Bristol facility by expanding and optimizing the site’s Quality Control (QC) and analytical laboratory layouts and technologies, allowing for increased efficiencies in response to customer demand. As part of this expansion, Abzena has invested in five state-of-the-art Waters Arc Premier LC Systems and two ACQUITY Premier Chromatography Systems, to ensure consistency and reliability in product analysis from the earliest development stages to cGMP release and stability testing.

To complement the site’s newly expanded analytical capabilities, Abzena has also invested in a Sartorius Hipersep Flowdrive Pilot System to enhance purification processes for clinical manufacturing batches. Engineered to operate at pressures up to 100 bars, this system has higher pressure and flow rate capacity to facilitate rapid purification processes, isolating significant quantities in a single processing day and allowing for a more efficient isolation of desired compounds from impurities.

The site has also extensively renovated its non-laboratory space, installing new flooring, modern lighting systems, and rejuvenating communal spaces, to improve efficiencies and elevate the working environment for colleagues.

Ian Glassford, Vice President and Bristol Site Head, said “The integration of the Waters Arc Premier and ACQUITY Premier Chromatography systems alongside the Sartorius Hipersep Flowdrive represents a quantum leap in our operational capabilities. Combined with our comprehensive site renovations, these advancements enhance our capabilities to better support customer programs and affirms our dedication to creating a supportive workplace for our employees.”

Matt Stober, CEO of Abzena, added “The strategic investment into our Bristol site demonstrates our continued commitment to deliver high-quality programs for our customers that offer them the best chances of downstream success. We have seen a significant increase in bioconjugate and antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) programs in today’s development pipelines, and as an industry leader with over 20 years’ experience in this space, we will continue to invest in our facilities across all of our sites to offer cost and time efficiencies so that these programs can reach patients faster.”

Abzena has additional investments planned in both development and manufacturing areas at the Bristol, PA facility that will be completed over the course of 2024.

Abzena is the leading end-to-end bioconjugate and complex biologics CDMO + CRO. From discovery through commercial launch, we support customers with fully integrated programs or individual services designed to de-risk and streamline the development of new treatments for patients in need. With the ability to tailor its strategy and customer experience to each project, Abzena develops and implements innovative solutions that enable biotech and biopharma companies to realize the full potential of their molecule and move medicines forward faster. The company has research, development, and cGMP facilities across locations in San Diego, CA, Bristol, PA, and Cambridge, UK. Abzena is owned by Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, one of the world’s leading private equity investors. Learn more at abzena.com.