The bioprocess pilot-scale facility in Uppsala, Sweden, has hosted fifteen national and international projects and more than 2000 study visits since its opening in 2018
Uppsala, Sweden – September 26, 2019 – Testa Center, a not-for-profit innovation center and a testbed for biomanufacturing concepts, is celebrating its first anniversary of advancing science. The facility is an initiative between the Swedish Government and Cytiva to support collaboration between the public sector, business, and academia, and boost the commercialization of new technologies in the life sciences sector.
The Swedish government invested around EUR 10 million (SEK 100 million) through Vinnova, its innovation agency, while Cytiva infused around EUR 4.5 million (SEK 45 million). Testa Center is equipped with technology from Cytiva, including four cell culture and protein purification laboratories, where academia, biotech start-ups, and the industry can test discoveries, while keeping full ownership of intellectual property. Expanding across some 27,000 square-feet (2500 m2), Testa Center is located on the premises of Cytiva in Uppsala, Sweden.
Inside Testa Center (Cytiva)
“As a strong actor in the life sciences industry in Sweden and worldwide, Cytiva is committed to accelerating innovation through Testa Center, a hub of biotech excellence, where world-class research meets the latest available technology. We already see fantastic results and a global interest in Testa Center, which is a great indication that such collaborations drive the advancement of life sciences,” says Lotta Ljungqvist, CEO of Testa Center and Cytiva Nordics.
Fifteen projects from Scandinavia have so far benefited from the technology and know-how available at Testa Center. The projects range from scale-up and purification activities, educational programs, and digital verification to Cytiva programs and training. The first biotechnology company to run a project at Testa Center is BioLamina, which used the facility to scale-up its production capacity and deliver more reagents to its global customer base.
"The opportunity to set-up and scale-up our production process at Testa Center gave us the possibility to simultaneously design and establish the process in-house, which significantly shortened the project timeline", says Ludwina Retzer, Head of Production at BioLamina.
Four additional projects are expected to start at Testa Center before the end of the year.
The one-year celebration of Testa Center will take place on September 26, 2019, at Cytiva in Uppsala. For more details, including registration and participation, please check the Testa Center website.