Brammer Bio, a contract development and manufacturing organization serving companies seeking to develop and commercialize gene therapies, has expanded its Progress Park location dramatically over the past two years.
Brammer has expanded its Alachua-based process and analytical development laboratories and quality control laboratories. This expansion follows a doubling of its clinical capacity in Alachua in 2017. The site incorporates equipment and design concepts that are setting the standard for process and analytical development for clinical trials and ultimately, commercial scale manufacturing.
At the time of its formation in 2016, Brammer had around 100 employees located in Alachua, Florida. The company currently has 240 employees and plans to bring on another 30 within the next six months.
Brammer Bio was formed through a merger of Florida Biologix® and Brammer Biopharmaceuticals on March 31, 2016. At the time of the merger, Florida Biologix®, had a 10-year track record of providing development, early clinical phase manufacturing, and testing services, supporting biopharmaceutical clients with advanced therapeutic products and processes, including cell and gene therapies.
Ampersand Capital Partners, the private equity firm that supported the spin-out of Florida Biologix® from the University of Florida, as the majority shareholder, made an additional investment in the combined company and is the only institutional investor in Brammer Bio. The Brammer Bio management team is led by Brammer founders Mark Bamforth, President and CEO and Dr. Richard Snyder, CSO, and by Chris Murphy, COO.
In addition to Alachua, Brammer has locations that complement Alachua with commercial viral vector manufacturing in Cambridge and Lexington, Mass. The footprint in Alachua is around 80,000 square foot with 8,000 square feet of labs under renovations. Brammer plans to increase the square footage by another 15,000 to 25,000 square feet within the next year as part of its recent announcement to invest $200 million between all three facilities.
“We continue to invest and expand in the Greater Gainesville/Alachua, Florida region in order to best leverage and augment our talented employee base and the strong relationships we have built with the University of Florida, the Chamber, and other members in the surrounding community to support the pioneering work of our clients,” said Larry Pitcher, Vice President and Site Head, Alachua at Brammer Bio.
“Brammer Bio is a valued corporate partner in our community that is improving the world around us,” applauded Adam Boukari, City Manager, City of Alachua. “We are proud of their investment in Alachua and look forward to their continued growth and success.”
“We’re proud to see biopharmaceutical technologies and talent created here in Greater Gainesville stay and grow in Greater Gainesville,” said Kevin Monroe, Chairman of the Greater Gainesville Chamber Board of Directors. Florida Biologix® was spun out of the University of Florida in 2015.
“The team at Brammer Bio encompasses the talented workforce and innovation within the Greater Gainesville region. Their story of being a spin out, a company that has merged into Brammer Bio and choosing to expand their workforce and facility here represents the momentum of economic growth in the region. We are proud to have Brammer Bio in this business community,” said Staci Bertrand, Interim Senior Director of Economic Development, Greater Gainesville Chamber.
Brammer Bio was recognized as Manufacturer of the Year by the Greater Gainesville Chamber of Commerce on November 15, 2018.