BALTIMORE, April 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Paragon Bioservices, the leading private equity-backed biologics contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) with proven expertise in gene therapy and next-generation vaccines, celebrated this morning the grand opening of its new, world-class and state-of-the-art 200,000 square-foot GMP gene therapy biomanufacturing facility in Maryland's Anne Arundel County. The event brought together state and regional political and biopharmaceutical industry leaders. Distinguished guests and speakers at the event included:

• Maryland Governor Larry Hogan
• Maryland Secretary of Commerce Kelly Schulz
• Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman
• Anne Arundel Economic Development Corporation President & CEO Jerry Walker
• Paragon Bioservices CEO Pete Buzy
• Lydia Seiders, NORD Maryland Volunteer State Ambassador
• Maryland Tech Council CEO Martin Rosendale
• CRB Maryland Office Leader and Senior Associate Matt Khair

"With this new and impressive commercial-scale facility, Paragon Bioservices is helping to solidify Maryland's position as a premiere location for leading-edge biomanufacturing," said Governor Larry Hogan. "Our state has long been a hub for biotechnology research and scientific talent, and this transformational project squarely places Maryland at the forefront of next-generation biotherapeutic manufacturing and personalized medicine." 

The new state-of-the-art facility near Baltimore/Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport is equipped with several 500L and 2000L single-use bioreactors for clinical through commercial material production. Paragon has GMP projects underway with more than 20 of the top 40 leading gene-therapy biopharmaceutical companies in the world.

"The grand opening today of our gene therapy biomanufacturing facility was a huge moment for the Paragon team," said President and CEO Pete Buzy. "Significant time and energy have been put into making this facility a reality, and I want to thank our senior leadership team and our investment partners, Camden Partners and NewSpring Health Capital. There are only a handful of other CDMOs like Paragon in the world that can do what we do, and we are prepared to meet the manufacturing demands of the double-digit growth in gene therapy that is well under way." 

Paragon is one of Maryland's largest and fastest-growing biotechnology companies in the state and is one of the leading CDMOs. The Company employs a team of 350+ at its University of Maryland, Baltimore BioPark location and now at the new commercial facility near BWI airport. Paragon anticipates growing to 500+ employees by the end of the year.

"We believe that our new facility greatly adds to the attractiveness of the region from both an economic and workforce development standpoint," continued Mr. Buzy. "We're part of a unique ecosystem centralized amongst many world-class academic and government research institutions and hundreds of life science companies on the I-270 corridor and beyond."

The grand opening event signals Paragon's strong commitment to meeting the demands of the emerging, high-growth gene therapy market with high-quality manufacturing to support our clients' new product approvals and commercialization.

About Paragon Bioservices, Inc.
Paragon Bioservices is an industry-leading, private-equity backed CDMO whose focus is the development and manufacturing of cutting-edge biopharmaceuticals. Paragon aims to build strong client partnerships with the world's best biotech and pharma companies, focusing on transformative technologies, including gene therapies (AAV), next-generation vaccines, oncology immunotherapies (oncolytic viruses), and other complex biologics. For more information, please visit www.paragonbioservices.com.

Corporate Contact
Philip Wills, Chief Commercial Officer
PH (410) 975-4050

Media Contact
Juliette Bogus, PressComm PR
PH (410) 980-5687
Juliettebogus@presscommpr.com

SOURCE Paragon Bioservices, Inc.

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http://www.paragonbioservices.com