Dive Brief:
- Biotech company Integrated DNA Technologies opened a synthetic biology manufacturing site at its headquarters in Coralville, Iowa, on May 28, according to a company release.
- The expansion allows the biotechnology company to double its synthetic biology footprint and positions it to grow its product portfolio, which will include the launch of a rapid gene synthesis product expected in late Q2, Integrated DNA Technologies President Demaris Mills said in the release.
- More than half of the 25,000-square-foot facility is for synthetic biology labs, which include enhanced cold storage, lean manufacturing design and energy-efficient systems. Other areas include offices, conference rooms and space for future expansion.
Dive Insight:
As Integrated DNA Technologies’ expansion adds significant production capacity, the company also anticipates adding dozens of new positions over the next few years, Heather Loftsgard, IDT’s site director, said in an email to Manufacturing Dive.
“This investment provides IDT with a growth runway for its synthetic biology product portfolio and manufacturing arm to support the rapidly expanding global DNA synthesis market and related drug development activity,” Mills said in a statement.
Integrated DNA Technologies manufactures products used to research various forms of cancer and most inherited and infectious diseases, according to its website.
The biotech company focuses on gene editing, which is an industry set to grow in the U.S. The emerging technology can make it possible to correct or modify genes that cause genetic disorders. The gene editing market size is expected to reach about $29.9 billion by 2032, up from $6.9 billion in 2022, according to Precedence Research, a consulting firm.
Other major drugmakers are also expanding into the synthetic genome space. In January, Moderna acquired OriCiro Genomics for $85 million, in a bid for its synthesis of plasmid DNA. Gilead Sciences also partnered with synthetic biotech company Refuge Biotechnologies in October 2022 to collaborate on cancer cell therapies.
Integrated DNA Technologies’ synthetic facility is the company’s second plant built in Coralville in the last 12 months, following the opening of a therapeutic oligonucleotide manufacturing facility in October 2023. The facility will will have a complete CRISPR editing technology process, a recent technological innovation in the science world.
Integrated DNA Technologies also has manufacturing sites in San Diego, Boulder, Colorado, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, and Ann Arbor, Michigan, according to the release.
