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Diepenbeek – Limburg-based companies ABN Cleanroom Technology and simAbs are joining forces to make great strides together within the Life Sciences sector. ABN Cleanroom Technology will provide simAbs, which is currently housed at Bioville Health Campus, with a cGMP-certified cleanroom that meets all requirements to run their operations and increase their production capacity. In late September, simAbs announced another successful capital raise of €1 million, a major milestone since the company was founded in 2019. A significant part of this funding round was contributed by ABN Cleanroom, led by Jo Nelissen and Rosaline Wijnen. This new funding injection will be used to set up a GMP facility, paving the way for customised antibody production for human applications.
Bioville Health Campus is Limburg’s first incubator. Here, start-ups within the Healthcare and Life Sciences sector get the chance to develop themselves. simAbs is a company that produces monoclonal antibodies that have the ability to recognise very specific sites in the human body and can therefore be used in the fight against specific diseases, such as cancer. SimAbs’ breakthrough technology is focused on continuous production and offers unparalleled advantages in terms of cost-effectiveness, faster time to market and improved quality. Currently, simAbs still produces its antibodies in one of Bioville’s labs, but in early 2024, ABN Cleanroom Technology will provide them with a temporary outdoor cleanroom facility where the antibodies can be made.
ABN Cleanroom Technology, located as the crow flies eight kilometres from the Health Campus, is pleased that their cleanroom products can provide support to another Limburg company in the Life Sciences sector. With this modular cleanroom unit, simAbs is assured of a cleanroom that can grow with the company’s growth in the coming years and can be adapted to changing needs and requirements where necessary. With circularity in mind, the cleanroom can also be taken back by ABN Cleanroom Technology at a later stage and replaced by a permanent cleanroom facility.
“Thanks to our OPEX financing model, we can provide simAbs, like other start-ups, with a state-of-the-art cGMP-certified cleanroom facility that is fully aligned with their production process,” said Rosaline Wijnen. “This performance-based approach ensures that the customer only pays for the use of a cleanroom. Moreover, the initial investment cost is also drastically reduced, which means we also give start-ups the opportunity to use our cleanrooms. By adopting a life-cycle approach, we ensure that adaptability and sustainability are fully integrated, allowing us to repossess the cleanroom or use it for other purposes in the future if necessary,” concludes Jo Nelissen of ABN Cleanroom Technology.
Legolisation means standardisation. Standardisation causes a shift in production. Work is carried out in conditioned spaces such as factory halls. our cleanrooms are manufactured partly or entirely off-site, which means huge savings on transport costs and reduction of inconvenience on-site