ADC Bio Extends with Tech. Service Lab

ADC Bio has extended its North Wales, UK facility with a new £125,000 Technical Service Laboratory. Commissioned last month (April), the new lab at St. Asaph will meet growing demand for the company's R&D services from developers of niche anti-cancer drugs based on antibody drug conjugates (ADCs).

The company's specialist experience in working with complex anti-cancer technologies and rapidly accelerating ADC drug developments have boosted demand for its R&D capabilities.

The additional facility at St. Asaph will offer customers a range of services including ADC screening, process development and scale up. The lab is equipped to manufacture at mg to 10s of gram scale to toxicology batch scale; this includes manufacture of materials compatible with pivotal In Vivo toxicology studies. Initially, the development has added two more science staff, bringing the technical team up to four.

The laboratory brings together analytical and preparative equipment and skill sets in one integrated space. Capabilities include HPLC, ELISA and Gel electrophoresis, along with development and preparative scale chromatography and cross flow/normal flow filtration systems.

"The number of ADCs in trials and pre-clinical development has dramatically increased over the past 18 months", notes ADC Bio's CEO Charlie Johnson. "Limited capacity in the ADC space is translating into surging demand for outsourced ADC process and purification development and testing".

He added: "Against this background, expanding our R&D lab capacity enables earlier partnering with customer programmes, increases our service offer and closely complements our main innovation activity".

ADC Bio's original lab will now be dedicated to continuing development of the company's "Lock and Release" solid phase immobilisation technology for high-purity processing. Prototype "Lock and Release" platforms are currently under evaluation by key clients.