HALIX Celebrates Grand Opening of its State-of-the-Art cGMP Facility

Official inauguration ceremony of the new facility for the development and manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals

LEIDEN, the Netherlands, November 22, 2019 / B3C newswire / -- With an official inauguration ceremony, HALIX celebrated the opening of its brand-new 6,700 m² cGMP facility at the Leiden Bio Science Park. On behalf of HALIX, Alex Huybens, COO of HALIX, Dr. Roland Hecht, CCO of HALIX, Dr. Harry Flore, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of HALIX, and Paul Dirkse, Alderman of the municipality of Leiden, ceremoniously opened the new facility.

The opening marks the achievement of a major milestone within the construction process and is the basis for HALIX growth and expansion strategy. This enables HALIX to support its clients’ manufacturing of protein-based products, the key technology for future drug production, and virus-based products with cutting-edge technologies. The new building houses GMP production areas for viral and protein products and client-specific technologies, as well as associated laboratory and administration areas.

Alex Huybens, COO of HALIX, is proud to inaugurate the facility: “The facility is a symbol for the strong innovative, dynamic and modern culture at HALIX. Our team jointly worked with huge efforts on the progress of our clients’ projects and HALIX itself. These efforts and the new facility enable us to serve the growing client and market demands.”

Dr. Harry Flore, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of HALIX, adds: “We build our investment strategy alongside global megatrends. In the field of Pharma, APIs based on proteins are of importance and sustainable trends in future drug production. With these state-of-the-art new production facilities HALIX sets a new milestone in its development as a highly specialized biotech company.”

Epidemics and pandemics have changed historical life and, as a result of climate change, will transform future life in modern economies. Nowadays, the Chikungunya virus and Zika virus, carried via mosquitoes, are already prevalent in Africa and South America. HALIX produces vaccines to prevent spreading those infectious and other viral diseases. HALIX is also focusing on therapeutic vaccines, specific oncolytic therapeutic vaccines such as to cure dedicated types of cancer.

The opening was celebrated with clients, business partners, HALIX employees and representatives from HALIX shareholders and the HALIX Supervisory Board.

The new five-level production facility contains a state-of-the-art manufacturing line for viral vaccines and viral vectors, starting soon, with a 250 L bioreactor scale. A separate protein manufacturing area with a capacity up to 1,000 L single-use bioreactors is available. Laboratory spaces within the facility enable process development and transfer, analytical development and quality control of biopharmaceuticals.

Ensuring highest quality standards and GMP compliant production, the facility is designed and equipped according to latest biopharmaceutical quality standards. All BSL2 cleanrooms are structured according to the unidirectional process flow of personal and materials and prepared for an upgrade to BSL3, if required. The office spaces, laboratory and cleanroom areas offer up to 70 employees attractive and modern workplaces.

About HALIX
Founded in 2012 and based in Leiden, the Netherlands, HALIX is a corporate venture and spin-off of HAL Allergy and serving customers since then as a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO). The company is licensed for the contract manufacturing of clinical and commercial medicines according to cGMP standards. HALIX leverages advanced biopharmaceutical technologies and provides the full portfolio of pharmaceutical documentation of cGMP production processes, as well as production of units which are required for clinical approval. HALIX, as an end-to-end service provider, will serve its customers the full range from the first development steps to start of commercial production after successful registration of products.
HALIX and HAL Allergy Group belong to the family owned Droege Group AG.

About Droege Group
Droege Group (founded in 1988) is an independent advisory and investment company under full family ownership. The company acts as a specialist for tailor-made transformation programs aiming to enhance corporate value. Droege Group combines its corporate family-run structure and capital strength into a family-equity business model. The group carries out direct investments with its own equity in corporate spin-offs and medium-sized companies in “special situations”. With the guiding principle “execution – following the rules of art”, the group is a pioneer in execution-oriented corporate development. Droege Group follows a focused investment strategy based on current megatrends (knowledge, connectivity, prevention, demography, specialization, future work, shopping 4.0). Enthusiasm for quality, innovation and speed determines the company’s actions. In recent years Droege Group has successfully positioned itself in domestic and international markets and operates in 30 countries.