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Marie Lamarque
Published on
Oct. 14 2024 at 6:42 am
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The project has been followed for several years, it is finally becoming concrete. A major factory has been set up in this campus on the health of the future which continues to develop around the Oncopole, in Toulouse.
Evotecthe German group specializing in subcontracted pharmaceutical research, development and production, set up, at the end of September 2024, a new factory responsible for manufacture the biomedicines of the futuredirectly from its Curie campus, route d’Espagne. A 200 million euro project.
What this innovative factory will produce
Inaugurated on September 20, the factory, called J.POD® Toulousemanufactures antibodies and therapeutic products which will then be marketed to players in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. Precisely, it is Just – Evotec Biologics, a subsidiary 100% owned by Evotec, which operates it.
“The Toulouse factory will produce therapeutic monoclonal antibodies from Chinese hamster ovary cells,” explained the document presenting the public inquiry.
What are monoclonal antibodies?
So-called “monoclonal” antibodies are antibodies made by cells in culture to treat specific diseases. More than 30 monoclonal antibodies are marketed in France today for the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases (such as Crohn’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, etc.), cancers and transplant rejection. They have revolutionized the management of many diseases.
Laboratories, white areas, offices…
The site, which extends over 15,000 m², includes a ballroom for its manufacturing activities. It is an “innovative space dedicated to pharmaceutical production processes”, explains Ingérop, the engineering group which delivered the factory.
There are also laboratories, a logistics zone, as well as office spaces. Clean rooms have also been fitted out in modular form.
A first in Europe
This is a first site of this magnitude in Europe for the Evotec group, after its J.POD® 1 factory based in Washington State, United States.
Present in Toulouse since 2015, the German group has helped support the employment area of the Pink City. He had taken over the production unit of another industry giant, Sanofi. This last installation should lead to the arrival of 150 new employees highly qualified.
However, last August, Evotec announced the elimination of 64 positions in Toulouse, as part of “a plan to rationalize its operations in France”. A plan which should not have “any impact” on the workforce of this new factory, the group specified.
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