BioPharmaSpec Launches Three New R&D Facilities in Europe

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BioPharmaSpec, a global contract research organization (CRO) specializing in discovery and preclinical characterization of biopharmaceuticals, has officially opened three new European facilities in Freiburg, Germany; Bergamo, Italy; and Vilnius, Lithuania, which will focus on discovery and R&D services, the company announced on Nov. 12, 2024 (1).

The facilities will offer structural and physicochemical characterization services for a variety of biopharmaceutical products, including monoclonal antibodies, antibody-drug conjugates, cell and gene therapy products, bioactive peptides, oligonucleotides, and carbohydrates. The company will also offer host cell protein identification and the quantitation of other relevant product- and process-related impurities at these facilities.

"Complementing a long career in academia where I’ve been the professor of Biological Chemistry at Imperial College since 1980, it has been a privilege to help drive forward this exciting development and significant expansion of BioPharmaSpec. The Freiburg, Bergamo, and Vilnius sites join our existing UK [United Kingdom] and US-based facilities to create the BioPharmaSpec Group of companies, serving the global biopharmaceutical industry,” said Prof. Howard R. Morris FRS, founder of the BioPharmaSpec Group of companies, in a company press release (1).

The launch of these new facilities marks a significant milestone in BioPharmaSpec’s growth since it was founded in 2014 by Morris—who brought with him 45 years of experience in mass spectrometry discoveries and who was the founder of the M-Scan Group of companies—and Andrew Reason, PhD—who brought with him 25 years of experience in commercialization of analytical methods and who previously held the role of group manager of the European M-Scan laboratories. BioPharmaSpec now serves biopharmaceutical companies worldwide with its structural and physicochemical characterization services, which facilitates progress of drug pipelines, according to the press release (1).

“With the opening of these new laboratories in January 2025 and recruitment of local expert scientists, we are strategically and uniquely placed to provide our expanding global client base with the highest levels of technical and customer service," said Lindsay McGowan, director of business development at BioPharmaSpec, in the press release (1).

In addition to modern office space and meeting rooms, the new laboratories at the three facilities will host state-of-the-art instrumentation, Including accurate mass quantitation systems from Waters and SCIEX. (e.g., Waters Select Series CYCLIC ion mobility separation (IMS) high-definition liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) with electron capture dissociation, SCIEX ZenoTOF 7600 LC–MS/MS with electron-activated dissociation, Waters Xevo TQ Absolute, and Waters Xevo G3 LC–MS/MS quadrupole time-of-flights). The use of these high-end instruments combined with support from expert scientific advice, will enable access to high-quality structural characterization services with fast turnaround times, the company stated in its press release (1).

The company has also published recruitment announcements for scientists and technicians for the Vilnius and Freiburg sites (2,3).

References

1. BioPharmaSpec. BioPharmaSpec Announces Three New Facilities in Freiburg, Bergamo and Vilnius. Press Release. Nov. 12, 2024.
2. BioPharmaSpec. BioPharmaSpec is Recruiting: Scientists and Technicians- BSc or PhD (Vilnius, Lithuania). Press Release. Nov. 11, 2024.
3. BioPharmaSpec. BioPharmaSpec is Recruiting: Scientist- Masters or PhD (Freiburg, Germany). Press Release. Nov. 11, 2024.

Source: BioPharmaSpec