The new 8,000-square-foot facility, completion of which is targeted for next year, will mirror Altasciences’ existing bioanalytical laboratory in Laval, Canada and supplement the services it provides out of its site in Seattle.
“We are very excited about the laboratory expansion at our Columbia site,” said Lynne Le Sauteur, VP of laboratory sciences at Altasciences. “With this additional full-service, state-of-the-art bioanalytical and flow cytometry laboratory, we look forward to continuing to provide our usual high-quality, timely analyses of study samples for our clients.”
The new site will house 48 workbenches and offer services covering mass spectrometry, ligand binding assays, flow cytometry, biomarkers, and cell culture. News of the new facility comes 10 months after the service provider disclosed the expansion of a ligand binding laboratory to meet demand for bioanalytical services. The earlier expansion created a laboratory with 52 benches for sample analysis.
Altasciences moved to add more capacity for ligand binding assays, cell-based assays, flow cytometry, and other specialty assays to support biologics and oligonucleotide drug development. In recent years, biologics and oligonucleotides have come to make up a larger proportion of the drug development pipeline, creating a need to increase capacity for the services required to get the molecules to market.
When looking to add more capacity in the US, Altasciences identified Columbia as a good fit for its plans. The choice of the city reflects its proximity to preclinical and clinical research facilities. Because of the proximity, Altasciences thinks it will be able to ensure collaboration between teams, sites, and phases of development.
Building the Columbia facility continues a period of expansion that has seen Altasciences add another location in Philadelphia and expand strategic support for early drug development in Europe over the past year or so.
