Avid Bioservices to build $75M plant in California for viral vectors, name new executive

Avid Bioservices, a California-based CDMO, rolled out plans to build a new manufacturing facility budgeted at between $65 million to $75 million in Costa Mesa, California, as it expands its cell and gene therapy offerings.

The 53,000-square-foot plant will be located just down the road from Avid’s existing operations in Tustin, California, and is expected to be fully operational by the second half of 2023. The analytical and process development labs at the site are expected to start operations in the next six to eight months.

The company plans to produce viral vectors at the facility that will be used to treat a range of indications in oncology, hematological disorders and rare disease.

“Avid’s expansion into the viral vector space is a logical progression for the company as it continues to expand its offering as a pure-play biologics CDMO,” Nicholas Green, Avid’s CEO, said in an email. “Many of the unit operations for viral vectors are very similar to those operated by the company for our mammalian cell culture business.”

Additionally, the company announced it named Drew Brennan as general manager of its viral vectors technologies. Brennan, who was previously with Novasep, will be in charge of all business activities involving Avid’s expansion into the cell and gene therapy markets.

RELATED: ADC Therapeutics taps Avid for production of its new blood cancer med Zynlonta

Last year, Avid pumped up to $55 million into expanding its Myford manufacturing facility, which included adding both an upstream and a downstream processing suite.

Earlier this year, Avid got the nod from ADC Therapeutics to manufacture its FDA-approved Zynlonta, the first single-agent CD19-targeted antibody drug conjugate against diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). The agency approved the treatment as a monotherapy for adults with relapsed or refractory DLBCL who’ve tried at least two previous lines of treatment.