US modular cleanroom systems supplier invests over $14m in new manufacturing hub

03-Feb-2022 - Last updated on 03-Feb-2022 at 10:53 GMT

AES Clean Technology, a supplier of cleanroom facilities for the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical sectors, is ploughing $14.2m into a new US manufacturing facility.

Located in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the new plant is set to create 97 full-time jobs, according to the firm.

The site will serve as a manufacturing hub for AES’ modular cleanroom systems and will be phased into operation in the coming year. AES said the facility will complement its existing manufacturing capabilities in Suwanee, Georgia.

Grant Merrill, CEO of AES Clean Technology, told BioPharma-Reporter:

“We’re building this facility to improve our production speed and flexibility, while maintaining the high quality our customers count on. It will help us focus even more on product development and process efficiency. The processes we will use require a high amount of fabrication skill and understanding of the unique requirements of cleanroom components.

“All that means we will need additional workers and a well-trained workforce.”

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is supporting the company in that respect, he added.

Growth in advanced therapies, vaccines pressuring cleanroom space

Expanded production capabilities are required to match industry growth, stressed the CEO.

One of the major drivers in the cleanroom space is the explosion of personalized medicine and advanced therapies such as cell therapy, gene therapy and tissue therapy, he said.

“There has been tremendous investment from academia, health systems and throughout private industry to drive forward treatment types that have not really been possible before today. The evolution of that science is creating the need for more facilities and capabilities that can produce these kinds of products. From our perspective, this is the force behind a great deal of the need in the cleanroom business. We anticipate that to continue to drive growth.

“The need for additional vaccine production, whether at native manufacturing sources or CMOs, is also major trend from a cleanroom facility perspective.”

As part of Operation Warp Speed, he said AES’ cleanroom facilities supported the manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccines, antibody therapeutics, and diagnostic devices. “We worked with the largest vaccine production project in the country. We also worked for some smaller-scale entities that had novel investigational technologies.”