Cytiva Opens New Vancouver Manufacturing Site

Global life sciences company Cytiva opened a new 126 200 square foot site in the greater Vancouver area to expand manufacturing capacity of aseptic filling machines by over 200%. The machines, known as workcells, provide gloveless, robotic aseptic filling capability for final drug product into vials, syringes and cartridges. The site will serve as a Center of Excellence for Cytiva’s aseptic filling business, housing R&D and service, and will be a base for the global customer user group.

Cytiva held an opening ceremony for the new site on July 27 with representatives from the local community, media and government in attendance.

“The industry is recognizing that working with a supplier that takes them from idea to injection provides flexibility, standardization and most importantly, brings drug product to patients faster,” said Olivier Loeillot, vice president and general manager, global product bioprocess, Cytiva.

Brent Lieffers, general manager, aseptic filling, Cytiva, said, “Aseptic filling workcells are a first-to-market product. With this facility expansion, we can meet rapidly growing demand thanks to growing acceptance of what is a fundamentally different technology than what came before.”

While work continues at the existing manufacturing site, the transition to the new site has already begun with office and engineering personnel now working from both locations. Manufacturing will begin on the first workcell to be built at the newly opened site in September 2022. Production will be fully transferred over to the new site by the end of 2022.

A facility with sustainability in focus

The new facility, located in Burnaby, British Columbia increases workcell production capacity with 20 build bays outfitted with customizable electrical and mechanical infrastructure changeable for shifting production needs; 40-foot warehouse height to accommodate incoming materials and outgoing finished goods; and special air handling technology for better air quality in assembly areas, including louvres that can open the manufacturing space to fresh air. All lighting in the building is LED and tied to motion sensors to conserve energy. There is a comprehensive recycling and waste management program and six electric car charging stations, with capacity for additional stations as needed.

The facility also has several customer-friendly features, including:

• Bays for Factory Acceptance Tests (FAT) that are camera and fiber-optic equipped for global broadcasting of remote FATs
• Customer lounge
• Customer meeting rooms
• Training space

The new facility is located next to the scenic Fraser River and is less than twenty minutes from Vancouver International Airport, and one hour from the U.S. border. The facility will house around 200 employees by the end of 2022, with room for future expansion.