Avant Immunotherapeutics Inc., a leading life sciences company specializing in the development of innovative vaccines and therapeutics, unveiled its state-of-the-art, pilot manufacturing facility in Fall River. The facility will develop and manufacture Avant's "next generation" vaccines for phase I, II and III clinical trials and eventual commercial sale. The building also houses UMass Dartmouth's Advanced Technology & Manufacturing Centre.

Avant's current vaccine and immunotherapeutics product portfolio includes cholesterol management, cardiac surgery, infectious disease, biodefense and food safety. The company has three marketed products: Rotarix, a two dose oral vaccine against rotavirus, a disease which causes infant diarrhoea, Megan Egg, a vaccine to protect against Salmonella infection in laying hens and eggs and Megan Vac, a vaccine to protect against Salmonella infection in broilers. Avant also has six products in clinical development, including CETi-1, a therapeutic vaccine for cholesterol management and TP10, an innovative therapy for cardiac surgery, the company release said.

According to Avant president and CEO Una S. Ryan, who is also chairman of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council: "Avant's Fall River pilot manufacturing facility will develop products that prevent disease, improve the quality of life and are often life-saving. The new facility provides us with strategically important growth opportunities and access to a highly desirable workforce."

Avant's pilot facility will manufacture genetically altered, harmless bacterial organisms for potentially life-saving vaccines for clinical trials and eventual commercial sale. Initially staffed by approximately a dozen employees, the company expects to expand the workforce to 20 in 2005.

The Fall River facility will have two manufacturing suites, a purification suite, two quality control labs, supporting area clean rooms, future expansion areas and office space. The facility will apply Avant's VitriLife preservation technology, a patented process that enables the production of thermostable (room temperature) vaccines for its own and its partners' product lines.