Contract research organization PPD is expanding its Richmond, Virginia, lab by adding 200 new staffers and boosting its research capabilities.
Specifically, the biopharma services company is boosting its lab’s immunochemistry and biomarker services by adding 8,000 square feet. This expansion “will be used for both biomarker lab capacity and a dedicated lab team for one of PPD’s global biopharmaceutical clients,” it said in a statement. About 200 employees will also be added.
This bioanalytical lab currently works on small-molecule, biologics, vaccines and biomarker testing across all phases of drug development.
On top of this, PPD is also slated to add 30,000 square feet of space to its chromatography services, which will see it build out what it describes as a state-of-the-art facility “focusing on modern mass spectrometry and automation and offering a layout optimized for the bioanalysis of complex molecules, such as antibody-drug conjugates, and advanced biotherapeutics, such as cell and gene therapies.”
That’s not all: It’s also, starting this month, creating a new 4,500-square-foot cell lab. The CRO says this investment is to “provide industry-leading capabilities to meet biopharmaceutical clients’ increasing research needs,” which is more and more geared toward cell and gene therapies.
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“The ongoing expansion of our bioanalytical lab—coupled with previous enhancements to our biologics capabilities—builds on the growth of our drug development expertise over the past three decades to the point that we now support pharmaceutical programs from preclinical through post-approval,” said Christopher Fikry, M.D., executive vice president of PPD.
“These additions—which we are thankful Virginia and Henrico County officials have welcomed and supported—will enable us to more effectively and efficiently respond to the growing needs of our customers as they seek to deliver more life-changing therapies. We’re confident these enhancements will enable us to continue our record of success with our customers.”
Just last month, PPD penned a deal with cancer biotech Harbour BioMed, seeing the pair team up to create new oncology and immunology drugs.