DPS Group completes work on new 118,000 s/f manufacturing facility for Vibalogics

Boxborough, MA DPS Group, a privately-owned, global engineering, procurement, construction management and validation (EPCMV) firm serving high-tech process industries, has completed work on a new, 118,000 s/f late-phase clinical and commercial manufacturing facility at 1414 Massachusetts Ave. for Vibalogics, a global contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO).

Specializing in the production of live-viruses and viral vectors, Vibalogics GMP facility will accelerate market supply of process & analytical development, manufacturing, testing, and aseptic fill-finish services to oncolytic virus, viral vector gene therapy and vaccine drug development companies during early-to-late phase clinical trials and commercial market approval. Equipped with state-of the-art technology and ability to support a significant capacity increase, the $150 million facility is the home of Vibalogics’ global headquarters.

“DPS has expertise in producing flexible and innovative cGMP sterile manufacturing facilities utilizing modern design technologies,” said Tom Hochuli, CEO at Vibalogics. “This experience made DPS a natural fit to guide us in our expansion into the US market. DPS worked closely with us and other project partners to deliver a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility with maximum cost and schedule efficiency with no compromise on quality, functionality, and flexibility.”

Through its novel therapies center of design excellence in Boston, DPS assisted Vibalogics with establishing a late-phase/commercial GMP facility in the U.S. to supplement its development and early-phase manufacturing facilities in Germany. DPS is providing architecture and engineering design services for concept design, basis of design, detailed design, and construction administration for this project. The facility will incorporate the use of traditional on-site construction methods alongside turnkey modular cleanrooms for the cGMP suites and associated MEP infrastructure. The site development will include office and administration space, QC/R&D laboratory space, warehousing space, GMP space, utility space, and parking to support 100 staff. Given the nature of starting materials and the substrates/agents being manufactured, these buildings will be built to meet the Center for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines for biosafety level 2 large scale (BSL-2LS).

DPS was selected as a strategic partner for its ability to deliver future forward, innovative facilities. The Vibalogics facility incorporates the use of traditional on-site construction methods alongside turnkey modular cleanrooms for the cGMP suites. DPS worked closely with Vibalogics and cleanroom vendor Germfree throughout this project to deliver a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility with maximum cost and schedule efficiency with no compromise on quality, functionality, and flexibility.

The project team on the Vibalogics facility included:

• Landlord: Lincoln Property Company

• Client: Vibalogics

• Architecture & engineering design: DPS Group

• Construction administration: DPS Group

• Pre-construction: The Cardinal Group

• Modular cleanrooms: Germfree

Serving high-tech industries around the world, DPS Group delivers full-service engineering across a range of disciplines, including project management, procurement, design, construction management, health and safety management, commissioning, qualification, and validation (CQV), and facility start-up.