GE Alliance Awarded Contract to Design New Plant-Based Manufacturing Facility in Brazil

GE Healthcare and iBio, Inc. announced GE Healthcare has signed a contract to design a new plant-based multipurpose manufacturing facility for Bio-Manguinhos/Fiocruz inBrazil.   The design project is the first contract for the global alliance between GE Healthcare and iBio, announced in 2012. The alliance combines iBio’s innovative plant-based manufacturing platform, iBioLaunch™, with GE Healthcare’s capabilities in process design and start-to-finish biopharmaceutical and vaccine manufacturing technologies.

 Bio-Manguinhos/Fiocruz is recognized internationally as a manufacturer of immunobiologicals for public health needs, primarily to support Brazilian Ministry of Health programs. It has invested in the development of bioprocess technologies such as iBioLaunch, through a co-development agreement with iBio and its research and development collaboratorFraunhoferUSACenterfor Molecular Biotechnology (FCMB), which will continue to play a key role in advancing iBioLaunch.

Olivier Loeillot, General Manager of Enterprise Solutions at GE Healthcare said: “Vaccines are vital in the fight against global disease and we’re pleased to be working with Bio-Manguinhos/Fiocruz on this important project.   GE Healthcare’s global capabilities and industry-leading expertise in biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies, coupled with iBio’s innovative technology and experience in plant-based protein expression, provide a solid foundation for this design project.  By working closely with the team at Bio-Manguinhos/Fiocruz we will together design a state-of-the-art, technologically-advanced facility that’s ready to meet the vaccine needs of tomorrow.”

Artur Couto, Director of Bio-Manguinhos/Fiocruz said: “In order to accomplish our mission and to meet the Brazilian Ministry of Health’s demands, we are constantly investing in innovative technologies. The agreement with GE Healthcare is important because it will allow us to build a new facility based on a very innovative platform and address an important need of the Brazilian Ministry of Health.”