Ultragenyx to build large-scale gene therapy manufacturing facility

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical announced that it plans to build a new large-scale gene therapy manufacturing facility in Bedford, Massachusetts. The new facility will enable in-house manufacturing of the Company's pipeline of clinical stage adeno-associated virus (AAV)- based gene therapies, including DTX301 for ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC) deficiency, DTX401 for glycogen storage disease type Ia (GSDIa), and UX701 for Wilson disease, as well as other preclinical programs. The company will continue to leverage some contract manufacturing organizations in addition to its own manufacturing facility. Ultragenyx will use both of its gene therapy manufacturing platforms at the new facility: the HeLa producer cell line (PCL) platform which enables large 2,000 liter commercial-scale manufacturing and yields high-quality product from a highly reproducible, highly scalable platform, and the Company's HEK293 transient transfection system. The planned Phase I facility will encompass 100,000 square feet and provide important internal capacity to develop and manufacture supply of Ultragenyx's gene therapies for both clinical stage and approved products. The facility will be able to support two independent manufacturing suites with a capacity of 30 runs per year. Construction of the new facility has begun and is expected to be complete in 2023. As the facility becomes fully operational, Ultragenyx expects to hire approximately 100 to 150 full-time employees, over a five-year period across a broad range of functions and skill sets, adding to their existing base of employees in Massachusetts. Ultragenyx already controls land and development rights for an additional 86,000 square feet of Phase II expansion on-site which could be used to double capacity if needed.