Ultragenyx, a specialized biopharmaceutical company focusing on rare disease therapies, announced this week that it had officially inaugurated a new gene therapy manufacturing facility in Bedford, Massachusetts.
The selection of the 110,000-square-foot facility was influenced by its proximity to Ultragenyx's research and development operations in the Greater Boston area. The expansion makes Ultragenyx one of the first manufacturers in the U.S. to offer complete end-to-end gene therapy capabilities in Massachusetts.
Alongside this announcement, Ultragenyx revealed plans to hire 120 employees for the newly established facility.
Ultragenyx's new facility incorporates cutting-edge technology to enable reliable and scalable production of gene therapy treatments. The company, which has a diverse portfolio of late-stage gene therapies addressing rare genetic conditions, leverages its proprietary Pinnacle PCLTM manufacturing platform to enhance efficiency in producing adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapies, leading to improved product quality, increased yield, reduced costs, and faster production speed.
Ultragenyx established strong collaborations with the Town of Bedford, local educational institutions such as Middlesex Community College, and notable organizations in the life science sector like Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MassBio) and Massachusetts Life Sciences Center.
Dennis Huang, CTO and executive VP of Gene Therapy Research and Development at Ultragenyx, expressed gratitude for the collective effort behind the facility's realization, stating, "Today we’re celebrating the result of several years’ worth of effort by hundreds of people, all driven by a single shared goal – to transform the lives of people living with rare disease. Through this facility, Ultragenyx will develop and produce gene therapy treatments at a greater scale than previously possible, which we believe will make these rare disease medicines more accessible to the people who need them."
