WuXi Vaccines, a leading contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) focused on vaccine discovery, development, and manufacturing, has launched its first standalone vaccines CDMO site in Suzhou, China.

The opening will add drug substance and drug product capacity, with end-to-end services for diversified vaccines that will accelerate global clients' project timelines – from process development and drug product development to clinical-scale drug substance (DS) and small-to-medium sterile drug product (DP) manufacturing.

Its DS production area includes two cell culture lines and one purification line supporting DS production scales from 50L to 1,000L, while maintaining a reserved capacity for 2,000L production. The DP facility is equipped with an automatic vial washing, sterilizing, filling and capping line, which can support the clinical production of both liquid and lyophilized products.

The site currently employs 200 people and anticipates having more than 500 employees when it reaches full operation. The manufacturing of large-scale commercial lyophilized drug product in vials is expected to launch by the end of 2024.