The Robert E. Fitzhenry Vector Laboratory has played a pivotal role in the development of immunotherapies in Canada. It was the first academic GMP facility in Canada that has manufactured viral vectors approved for use by Health Canada for human clinical trials in 2009.

We are committed to supporting translational medicine by providing virus-vector manufacturing services to researchers who want to move forward to clinical trial testing of their product.

Preclinical Manufacturing Services:

GMP Manufacturing Experience:

• Creation of six master virus banks and clinical lots that passed quality testing for sterility, mycoplasma, endotoxin and adventitious viruses
• Two qualified HEK 293 master cell banks
• Serum-free suspension cell culture in disposable, sterile, pyrogen-free, single-use plasticware
• Grown in chemically defined media, without serum or any animal-derived product

Equipment on site:

• Five 6-foot Microzone and Nuaire Biosafety Cabinets, three of which are located inside ISO 7 cleanrooms
• Three walk-in Honeywell temperature-controlled rooms that can be converted between 4˚C to 37˚C
• Three Beckman Allegra benchtop centrifuges with SX4750 and GH3.8 rotors
• One Beckman J6 MI floor centrifuge with JS4.2 rotor
• Two Beckman Optima ultracentrifuges with two SW41 and one SW 55 rotors
• 1 Bio-Rad NGC Quest Plus Chromatography System
• One SpectrumLabs KrosFlo MiniKros Pilot TFF pump
• Two Masterflex L/S peristaltic pumps with Easy-Load 3 pump head
• One -70˚C freezers, two -20 freezers, four 2-8˚C refrigerators,
• Seven CO₂ incubators
• Two Hach HHPC-6 particle counters, two EMD MAS-100 air samplers
• One Locator 6 liquid nitrogen tank, one Thermo Electron Cryo Plus Liquid Nitrogen storage system
• 24-hr continuous monitoring of temperature-controlled equipment
• Two 50 Liter TFF bins for disposable bioreactor bags