CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ: WVE), a biotechnology company focused on delivering transformational therapies for patients with serious, genetically-defined diseases, today announced the public opening of its new 90,000 square foot state-of-the-art manufacturing facility and office space in Lexington, Massachusetts. The unveiling of the new facility was celebrated today with a ribbon cutting ceremony featuring local officials and leaders from the Massachusetts life sciences industry and rare disease communities.
Wave's expansion into this new manufacturing facility is part of a long-term strategy of platform sustainability and independence. The new facility is designed to support the company’s robust and rapidly advancing clinical pipeline of drug candidates, which originates from its proprietary stereopure nucleic acid drug development platform. With six clinical programs expected to be initiated by the end of 2018, these enhanced manufacturing capabilities are expected to provide Wave with greater independence and flexibility in conducting clinical trials, and the potential to bring disease-modifying drugs to patients in a potentially expedited fashion.
"The expansion of our manufacturing capabilities is a critical milestone in our evolution as a clinical-stage company and a further commitment to our pledge of providing much needed therapies to patients living with serious, genetically-defined diseases," said Paul Bolno, M.D., MBA, President and Chief Executive Officer of Wave Life Sciences. "Our facility in Lexington bolsters our growth and investment in Massachusetts, where we can best access the talent of the Commonwealth’s world-class life sciences community."
The three-story facility is designed to be good manufacturing practice (GMP) certified and to have oligonucleotide synthesis capacity ranging from high throughput to large scale production. The new lab space is designed to meet the synthesis demands of Wave’s growing portfolio, while also increasing control and visibility of its product supply chain.
“Wave’s new manufacturing facility is one of only a few oligonucleotide manufacturing facilities in Massachusetts,” noted Wave’s real estate advisor, Evan Gallagher, Director of Life Sciences at Colliers International. “Today marks an incredible milestone for Wave, and I am proud to be associated with an organization and a facility that will bring us one step closer to addressing rare diseases.”
Notable local and national leaders in attendance at today's ceremony included Bob Coughlin, President and CEO of MassBIO; Robi Blumenstein, President of The CHDI Foundation, which focuses on Huntington’s disease; Pat Furlong, President and CEO of PPMD, the largest nonprofit organization in the United States solely focused on Duchenne muscular dystrophy; Rich Kennedy, President and Founder of The Angel Fund for ALS research and founder of the nonprofit Christmas in the City and Travis McCready, President and CEO of the Massachusetts Life Science Center.
"MassBIO congratulates Wave on this exciting step in the company's development," said Mr. Coughlin. "Massachusetts is home to the world’s top life sciences organizations doing groundbreaking work in treating rare genetic diseases and I am delighted to see firsthand how quickly Wave is establishing a leadership position for itself in this area, and following through in its commitment to bringing cures and treatments to patients."
Wave’s Lexington facility is designed for capacity of approximately 200 employees over the long term, with the majority of the space dedicated to manufacturing and laboratories. The space is also intended for non-manufacturing employees and was designed to support the company’s continued expansion. The company's corporate U.S. headquarters and initial laboratories are located in its nearby Cambridge, MA facility.
About Wave Life Sciences
Wave Life Sciences is a biotechnology company focused on delivering transformational therapies for patients with serious, genetically-defined diseases. Our chemistry platform enables the creation of highly specific, well characterized oligonucleotides designed to deliver superior efficacy and safety across multiple therapeutic modalities. Our pipeline is initially focused on neurological disorders and extends across several other therapeutic areas.
Forward Looking Information
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements relating to the anticipated benefits of our new manufacturing facility; the anticipated GMP certification and overall capacity of the new facility; our anticipated future growth and pipeline expansion; and the potential of our stereopure nucleic acid chemistry and nucleic acid therapeutics generally. These statements may be identified by words such as “believe,” “expect,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “will” and similar expressions, and are based on current beliefs and expectations. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in such statements, including risks and uncertainties associated with Wave’s stereopure chemistry drug development platform, the drug development and regulatory approval process; and the commercialization, development and acceptance of therapies with new technologies, as well as other risks and uncertainties that are described in the Risk Factors section of Wave’s most recent annual or quarterly report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and the parties assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
