Agilent Technologies, a Santa Clara, California-based life sciences and analytical technology company, has added laboratory space in Boulder, Colorado to support development and scale-up of manufacturing technologies for oligonucleotide therapeutics.

The new laboratory, part of Agilent’s Advanced Therapeutics Division, initially will focus on enzymatic ligation, an approach that uses enzymes to join shorter oligonucleotide fragments into longer therapeutic molecules. Agilent said initial customer programs are expected to begin in November, subject to applicable operational and regulatory requirements.

According to the announcement, Agilent provides development and current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) manufacturing services for oligonucleotide therapeutics including small interfering RNA (siRNA) and antisense oligonucleotides. The Boulder laboratory reportedly will complement Agilent’s existing oligonucleotide operations in Colorado and its manufacturing capabilities in Canada.

Agilent said the additional laboratory capacity will provide a dedicated environment for evaluating customer enzymatic ligation processes and developing the technology for potential scale-up. Enzymatic ligation is being evaluated as a complement to solid-phase phosphoramidite synthesis, an established method for oligonucleotide manufacturing.

According to the company, using both manufacturing approaches could provide greater flexibility in selecting production processes based on a program’s scale and technical requirements.

The expansion comes as demand for outsourced oligonucleotide manufacturing continues to grow. A MarketsandMarkets report cited by Pharma Manufacturing in July estimated the global oligonucleotide CDMO market will increase from $2.51 billion in 2024 to $6.73 billion by 2029. The report attributed the projected growth to factors including increasing demand for oligonucleotide therapeutics and the complexity of manufacturing requirements.

Agilent was among the leading companies identified in the report, alongside Bachem, Lonza, Thermo Fisher Scientific and WuXi AppTec. Other recent developments include Bachem’s expansion of large-scale oligonucleotide manufacturing capacity in Switzerland and the construction of oligonucleotide-focused facilities by WuXi AppTec in China and Singapore.