Just – Evotec Biologics, Inc. has expanded its collaboration with MSD, a tradename of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA, regarding the development of innovative technologies for the production of biologics of the highest quality.

Under the terms of the agreement, Just – Evotec Biologics grants MSD access to capacity in the J.POD(R) facility in Redmond, Washington, which is currently under construction. The J.POD facility gives MSD access to manufacturing capacity, which is compatible with the innovative manufacturing platform co-developed by MSD and Just – Evotec Biologics under a previous agreement announced in 2015.

J.POD (manufacturing and plant design) is an integral part of Just – Evotec Biologics’ J.DESIGN platform that combines data analytics and machine learning through all activities involved with the discovery, development, and manufacture of biologics. The integrated J.POD facility will be capable of delivering tens of kilograms to metric tons of the highest quality products in an efficient and flexible manufacturing setting. Highly productive processes will be scaled out without scaling up; fine tuning capital expenditure to demand with no operational scale-up risk.

The terms of the collaboration include an upfront payment of $ 15M, near term milestone payments based on completion of the construction of the J.POD facility as well as a broad collaboration around reserved capacities.

Dr. James Thomas, EVP Global Head Biotherapeutics Development and President US Operations at Just – Evotec Biologics, said “We’re pleased to expand the scope of our collaboration with MSD in the biomanufacturing area to include execution of full-scale continuous (connected) processing in our new flexible commercial J.POD facility. We’ve greatly enjoyed the synergistic relationship with MSD and look forward to expanding our relationship with them and future partners in the biologics space.”

Dr. Joe Miletich, SVP preclinical and process development research at MSD, added: “We are very pleased to continue our work with the Just – Evotec Biologics team to advance our biologics production capabilities at MSD. As we learn together how best to meet the challenging future demands of biologics, access to Just – Evotec Biologics’ platform technology is an integral part of our overall drug development and manufacturing de-risking strategy.”

Dr. Craig Johnstone, Chief Operating Officer of Evotec, commented: “We value the strong collaboration between Just – Evotec Biologics and MSD in demonstrating the benefit of collaboration to use innovative technologies, best-in-class execution and smart processes for addressing the most urgent requirements of our partners. Relationships like this will transform industry’s approach to biologics development and manufacturing.”