Pharmaron’s Liverpool UK Gene Therapy CDMO Commences Major Site Expansion Following UK Government Grant to Support £151m Investment

Pharmaron, a premier R&D service provider for the life sciences industry, has announced that their Liverpool, UK-based Gene Therapy CDMO has received a prestigious grant from the UK Government’s Life Sciences Innovation Manufacturing Fund, estimated at around £151 Million, to expand their viral vector and DNA manufacturing facilities for more than 8,000 sqM.

This major expansion project will provide a four-fold increase in gene therapy process development and analytical capacity accommodating viral vector, DNA and RNA drug substance, plus drug product formulation. The expansion includes 3,500 sqM for future commercial scale GMP capacity. The resulting facility will greatly enhance the scale and scope of Pharmaron’s services to vaccine, cell and gene therapy customers and allows Pharmaron to continue expanding its scientific team at Liverpool. The total investment in capital and people for this expansion is estimated to be in the region of £151 million.

Pharmaron acquired the established Liverpool CGT facility from AbbVie in 2021 and has rapidly added customers with 29 gene therapy and vaccine projects running through 2022. The expansion will allow this pace of growth to continue beyond the capacity of the existing state-of-the-art development and GMP facility, which will remain fully operational during, and after, the expansion project. Construction activities commenced in January 2023 and facility handover is expected in 2024.

Dr. Boliang Lou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pharmaron, commented, “I am delighted that we have been awarded this funding from the UK Government. Securing this grant demonstrates UK Government’s support and trust in Pharmaron to continuously expand our state-of-the-art infrastructure and top-notch scientific team at Liverpool to serve the gene therapy and vaccine development community in UK and abroad. We look forward to our new facilities coming online to support our partners that are delivering innovative, life changing medicines for patients in 2025.”