RNA, Gene Therapies Evonik Launches New Lipids Facility in Germany

Located in Hanau, Germany, Evonik’s new GMP facility will produce pharmaceutical lipids for advanced and pharmaceutical drug delivery applications. It will also offer lipids for clinical and small-scale commercial manufacturing.

Essen/Germany – Evonik is opening a new GMP facility to manufacture lipids for advanced, pharmaceutical drug delivery applications. The lipid launch facility is located at the company’s site in Hanau, Germany and provides customers with quantities of lipids as needed for clinical and small-scale commercial manufacturing. The new facility complements Evonik’s existing lab and commercial production capabilities to meet the needs of partners at every stage of development and commercialization. Official inauguration of the facility took place on 8 March 2023.

“We are excited about the timely opening of our new facility. Our customers benefit from our expanded integrated portfolio of System Solutions for advanced drug delivery, enabling the development of novel nucleic acid therapies and other medicines of the future,” said Thomas Riermeier, head of Evonik's Health Care business.

The types of lipids that can be produced at Evonik’s lipid launch facility will serve a broad range of RNA and gene therapies such as infectious disease control, cancer immunotherapy and protein replacement therapies. With particle engineering and purification capabilities, including chromatography, the lipid launch facility can support customers with production of all types of custom and proprietary lipids, including Pegylated lipids, phospholipids, and ionizable cationic lipids.

“Our offering allows customers to obtain high-quality GMP material consistent with larger scale production, enabling a seamless path for scale up – allowing our partners to move quickly in this fast-paced development space,” said Paul Spencer, head of Drug Delivery & Products at Evonik’s Health Care business.

Lipids make up the building blocks of living cells and are critical for mrna-based drugs. The mrna is enclosed in a lipid nanoparticle (LNP) composed of specific lipids. This LNP protects the mrna from degradation and delivers it safely into the cell, where it is released. LNPs are currently the most advanced drug delivery system and have gained worldwide acceptance in the fight against Covid-19 due to their versatility.

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