GE Healthcare, the healthcare business of GE, has launched KUBio, an innovative off-the-shelf, modular factory designed to save manufacturers of biopharmaceuticals both time and money.

KUBio’s pre-made modules, which are assembled at a customer’s chosen site to make a fully functional ready-to-run bioprocessing facility, are significantly faster to install than constructing a traditional factory. The modules are equipped with GE Healthcare’s technologies for the start-to-finish manufacture of biopharmaceuticals.

KUBio is a fully functional off-the-shelf bioprocessing facility specifically designed to meet cGMP requirements while optimizing manufacturing flexibility and productivity. The 1,200 square meter facility is pre-fabricated and delivered with a complete ready-to-use production line, based on GE Healthcare’s Ready-to-Process single-use technologies. With a total planning, delivery and construction time of 14-18 months, compared to the traditional 24-36 months, both time-to-market and level of capital investment are significantly reduced. The first modular facilities to be introduced will be configured for the manufacture of monoclonal antibodies. GE Healthcare also plans to introduce modules for the manufacture of other biopharmaceuticals.

“KUBio is a totally new approach to the manufacture of biopharmaceuticals, bringing our customers a greatly simplified way to build their production capacity,” said Olivier Loeillot, general manager of enterprise solutions, GE Healthcare Life Sciences. “With KUBio our customers will be able to cut months off the typical construction time, and greatly streamline the whole construction process. We’re already seeing interest from a wide range of customers, from governments wanting to develop in-country manufacturing capability right through to pharmaceutical companies wanting to expand production capacity in new locations. KUBio is an industry game-changer that will help them do just that.”