With a new GMP facility, Evonik is expanding its development and manufacturing capacities for lipid-based drug delivery at its Vancouver site. The company plans to invest more than C$150 million, equivalent to €93 million. The Canadian government’s Strategic Response Fund will support the project with up to C$68 million, or €42 million. Drug manufacturing is scheduled to begin at the end of 2029. The additional capacities are aimed at pharmaceutical and biotech companies developing lipid-based medicines such as vaccines and therapeutics. The Vancouver site will support projects through to commercial production, with a particular focus on the development of lipid nanoparticles, or LNPs, and liposomal delivery systems.
Evonik triples manufacturing capacity in Vancouver
The new GMP facility will triple the site’s current manufacturing capacity for advanced pharmaceutical products. At the same time, the company is expanding its quality assurance and microbiological testing capabilities. These additional testing capacities are intended to accelerate the release of products for use in clinical trials. Vancouver has been a location for lipid-based drug delivery technologies for several decades. Today’s Evonik Vancouver Laboratories originated from Transferra Nanosciences and Northern Lipids and has been working with these technologies since the 1990s. Its services range from formulation research and GMP manufacturing for clinical trials to process scale-up for subsequent commercial production.
Lipid nanoparticles deliver nucleic acid-based active ingredients
Lipids are used, among other purposes, to encapsulate active ingredients and control their release in the body. An important application involves nucleic acid-based active ingredients such as mRNA. Lipid nanoparticles protect these molecules and help transport them to the intended site of action. The technology became widely known through its use in mRNA vaccines against Covid-19. As the development of nucleic acid-based therapeutics advances, Evonik expects demand for corresponding delivery systems to continue growing. According to market forecasts cited by the company, the global LNP market is expected to reach US$2.7 billion by 2034.
Evonik connects Vancouver with its international manufacturing network
The Canadian expansion is part of a cross-site network for lipids and LNP formulations. Vancouver focuses on formulation development and clinical manufacturing. Processes for advanced clinical trials and commercial production can subsequently be transferred to the company’s Birmingham site in Alabama, USA. Other parts of the value chain are located in Germany and the United States. The company manufactures lipids and adjuvants in Dossenheim and Hanau, while the Cambridge Innovation Satellite in the Greater Boston area provides research and development capabilities. A new global lipid manufacturing facility is also under construction at the Tippecanoe site in Lafayette, Indiana. The network therefore combines expertise in lipid chemistry and LNP formulation with process development, sterile manufacturing and regulatory expertise.
Vancouver develops as a life sciences location
With the investment, Evonik is also expanding its presence in Canada’s life sciences cluster. British Columbia is home to more than 2,000 companies in the sector employing almost 20,000 people, many of them in the Greater Vancouver area. The region’s biotechnology industry is also closely linked to the University of British Columbia and the startups and spin-offs that have emerged from its environment. The new GMP facility will build on this ecosystem to develop and manufacture lipid-based medicines. For Evonik, Vancouver will therefore provide additional capacity within an international network designed to support pharmaceutical and biotech companies from early development and clinical programs through to commercial manufacturing.
