Fargo Politics Forum: Aldevron Announces Expansion to Vaccine Testing Facility

Aldevron, LLC is expanding its Genetic Immunization and Antibody (GIA) facility to accommodate an increased volume of vaccine screening contracts. Aldevron’s proprietary GIA technology is used to make antibodies and to rapidly screen potential vaccine candidates via DNA-mediated immunization.

Research labs in over 20 countries worldwide utilize Aldevron’s technology for innovative disease research to develop vaccines for such targets as HIV, Influenza and cancer. An Aldevron milestone project was the production of the West Nile Virus DNA Vaccine used to immunize endangered species. This was the world’s first DNA vaccine to be used outside of a trial setting.

The current 3,500 square foot facility will grow to 6,500 square feet to house the GIA services. Although the facility will be filled to capacity immediately, Aldevron will be working with new contracts to schedule for openings beginning in the third quarter of 2006.

The unique design of Aldevron’s GIA™ facility combined with Aldevron’s proprietary gene delivery technology allows the company to rapidly screen a large number of vaccines in parallel. A support lab is also being constructed which will allow exploration of vaccine delivery methods.

“The growth of the GIA facility diversifies the services to our client base and reaches to new clients. It also enables Aldevron to capture both screening and production elements of vaccine testing,” states John Ballantyne, Chief Scientific Officer.

In 2005, Aldevron and its partners announced over $14 million in vaccine development contracts and grants. The GIA platform is being used for contracts with organizations such as the Department of Defense, HIVRAD, IAVI and USAMRID.

“This facility expansion will support the contracts we have received over the past year. The expansion will also allow us to increase our workforce,” says Aldevron’s CEO, Michael Chambers. “We would like to thank Senator Dorgan for setting up key meetings with scientists from NIH and the Department of Defense that have helped make this expansion possible.”

Founded in 1998, Aldevron provides products and services to academic, government, and industry biotechnology labs. Aldevron’s core services are production of plasmid DNA manufacturing and Genetic Immunization and Antibody production (GIA™). More information can be found at www.aldevron.com.