Avantor, a global supplier of ultra-high-purity materials for customers across the life sciences and advanced technologies sectors, has opened a new research centre in Bridgewater, New Jersey (USA) to help biopharmaceutical and pharmaceutical customers with a full range of upstream and downstream processes, from gene to protein expression through final formulation and drug delivery.
With nearly 27,000 ft2 of laboratory space, Avantor’s Bridgewater Innovation Centre features state-of-the-art life sciences and advanced materials research tools, including cleanroom facilities, multiple mass spectrometers, specially constructed bioreactors, particle size analysers and more.
“Our facility is distinct in that we are combining more than 100 years of expertise producing high-quality, high-purity cGMP materials with a cross-discipline of research and capabilities, all under one roof to address today’s customised drug development processes,” said Ashish Kulkarni, Avantor’s executive vice president and chief technology officer.
“The Bridgewater Innovation Center houses multiple research platforms to address issues such as facilitating recombinant protein engineering, protein expression, purification and trace materials characterisation,” said Brian Beyer, global director of R&D and bioprocessing applications. “We also have research platforms to investigate new excipient formulations to enhance API stability.”
Also serving the electronics and semicon sectors
The facility will also be used to conduct research and development on electronics materials, with chemistries that require purity at the parts-per-trillion level.
“Our experience in controlling trace metals in chemistries for semiconductor applications will also contribute to our research into the impact of trace metals in biopharmaceutical and pharmaceutical applications,” said Beyer.
“Similar to a contract research organisation, we have broad capabilities to work with customers and serve as an agile extension of their own R&D departments,” said Kulkarni.
“Our goal is to help them drive collaborative development and product commercialisation. We’re excited to use this facility to continue accelerating innovation for our global life sciences and advanced technologies customers.”
Avantor’s Bridgewater Innovation Center is housed in the New Jersey Center of Excellence, a 110-acre life sciences campus centrally located in the northeast US bioscience technology corridor.
