FRAMINGHAM, MA– DPS, the global engineering group and its US architectural partner TRIA has won a major contract to provide architectural, engineering and project management services for a new $110 million, 200,000-square foot GMP mRNA clinical manufacturing facility in Norwood, Massachusetts, for biotechnology company, Moderna Therapeutics.
“We are thrilled to announce the site selection for our GMP manufacturing facility, as this is a critical component of the early development engine we are building to advance many mRNA programs in parallel in human clinical studies,” said Stéphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna. “With our development pipeline expanding, we need to scale up from our current Cambridge-based GMP clinical supply manufacturing facility. Our Norwood facility will enable us to deliver our mRNA therapies and vaccines quickly, which will support rapid progression from development candidate nomination to human proof-of-concept. I’m very grateful to our team and our partners for enabling us to progress to this exciting next phase in Moderna’s history. With the addition of this new facility, we are moving a significant step closer to delivering novel mRNA medicines for patients.”
DPS is providing full architectural and engineering design for the Norwood facility and also providing construction management oversight, commissioning, qualification and validation and procurement services. TRIA is designing clinical labs, offices, employee facilities and a conference center. Construction of the new facility is due to begin in October 2016 and be completed in early 2018.
DPS CEO Frank Keogh said, “This is a significant contract win for DPS and builds on the strong relationship we have developed with Moderna. We are proud to be supporting Moderna with this major investment in Norwood. This project demonstrates DPS’s ability to bid for and win large-scale capital investment design projects in the US.”
Moderna Therapeutics is a clinical stage biotechnology company pioneering messenger RNA (mRNA) TherapeuticsTM to create a new generation of transformative medicines for patients. The company’s Norwood facility will enable the manufacture, quality, control and supply of clinical grade mRNA therapies and vaccines for Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) toxicology studies as well as Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical studies. Moderna will carry out all manufacturing activities at the site—from raw material production to active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), formulation, filling and finish.
