VLE Therapeutics opens first factory of the future for advanced biotherapeutics and vaccines

·       Manufacturing facility will have capability for the development and clinical manufacture of the latest immunotherapies, advanced therapeutics and vaccines.

·       VLE Therapeutics, a spin out from APC, partnered with Enterprise Ireland to accelerate the development and launch of this first-in-class facility.

Dublin, Ireland – April 2022: VLE Therapeutics, a spin out from the award-winning pharmaceutical research and development company APC Ltd, today opened its first GMP factory-of-the-future for the manufacture of advanced therapeutic medicines and vaccines.

Following an investment of €25M across both APC and VLE in 2021 an extended medicine research-to-manufacturing value chain was created, ‘The Medicine Accelerator’. The Medicine Accelerator will dramatically reduce the time from medicine discovery to patient delivery by applying the latest breakthroughs in pharmaceutical research, digital innovation, and manufacturing technology.

VLE will enable the rapid development and manufacture of vaccines and other advanced therapeutics and is the first Irish-owned company capable of providing Ireland and Europe with a local supply chain for these critical medicines

VLE’s factory of the future delivers a world class manufacturing infrastructure and a first-in-class digital architecture for GMP clinical drug substance manufacturing. Together VLE and APC will apply the latest innovations in process, analytical and manufacturing science to dramatically reduce time to market for the world’s newest and most advanced medicines.

In parallel, VLE will open an additional bespoke 80,000 sq. ft. manufacturing greenfield site in 2024. This facility will provide a world-class platform for the clinical and commercial manufacture of Drug Substance and Drug Product for a wide range of Vaccines and Advanced therapeutics with dose capacity in the hundreds of millions.

Group Chief Executive Officer to APC and VLE, Dr. Mark Barrett says:

“It is remarkable to reflect on what the teams in APC and VLE have achieved over the last 12 months. During this globally challenging period the teams have driven scientific breakthroughs like never before and pushed the boundaries to design, build and launch our first GMP manufacturing suites. This hard work now enabling the research breakthroughs in APC to be accelerated into VLE’s factory-of-the-future for manufacture. This value chain of ‘innovation and precision’ helping us reduce time to patient for new gene therapies, immunotherapies and vaccines. Fundamental to this journey has been our longstanding relationship with Enterprise Ireland, whose support has been fundamental to this growth journey.”

Stephen Creaner, Executive Director, Enterprise Ireland says:

“Enterprise Ireland is very pleased to partner with and support VLE on its scaling journey. The opening of its first factory of the future is a critically important milestone for this important project that has the potential to transform the manufacture of advanced therapeutic medicines and vaccines in Ireland.  APC and VLE are working on treatments for some of the most serious diseases facing our world and we looking forward to continuing to work with the team as it develops its research and manufacturing capability in Ireland.  Today’s announcement underscores the worldwide impact that Irish innovation is having in the Life Sciences sector and the important role Ireland can play in delivering the next frontier of biopharma manufacturing”.

About APC:

Established in 2011 by Dr Mark Barrett (CEO) and Professor Brian Glennon (CTO), APC combines its platform technologies, ACHIEVE®, BioACHIEVE® and iACHIEVE®, and its globally recognised research team, to accelerate how the manufacturing processes for medicines are researched and developed. APC works with pharmaceutical and biotech companies globally on its medicine acceleration mission, with 80% of its activities export focused. The business is the largest employer in Ireland of PhD qualified chemical engineers and one of the country’s largest employers of PhD-level scientists with a team of over 200 scientific and pharmaceutical professionals.

Driven by client demand and enabled by 10 years of process, analytical and manufacturing innovation, APC spun out VLE Therapeutics in 2020 to deliver scientific and digital led manufacture of Vaccines and Advanced Biotherapeutics. In addition to vaccine research and manufacture, APC is currently working on 50+ medicines for a variety of cancers, respiratory diseases, Alzheimer’s disease and HIV at its HQ in Dublin.

About VLE:

Powered by transformational research in APC, VLE Therapeutics Ltd was formed to extend the value chain and deliver science and digital led manufacturing of Vaccines and Advanced Biotherapeutics. As a separate company VLE aims to transform the time and cost associated to produce critical vaccines and biotherapeutic medicines. VLE is led by COO Paul McCabe formerly Site Leader for Alexion Pharmaceutical Biologics facility in Dublin.

For more information, visit www.vletherapeutics.com