BioHarvest Sciences Inc. (CSE:BHSC, OTC:CNVCF) announced that it has signed two agreements to create a new campus for its botanical synthesis contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) business unit in Yavne, Israel.
The biotechnology firm, which is advancing its patented botanical synthesis process, said it has signed an agreement for the purchase of 12 state-of-the-art GMP clean rooms and a second agreement for the long-term lease of an 80,000-square-foot facility.
The purchased equipment has been installed and is ready for use.
Additionally, the leased facility is fitted out with industry-leading clean rooms, a built-out laboratory space, and offices. It also has additional space to support the building of a new 50-ton manufacturing facility to meet forecasted demand for the products business unit and to satisfy the initial manufacturing requirements of CDMO customers.
The 50-ton facility, which will be fitted out with upgraded technologies and equipment being developed by the company, is expected to be operational in the second half of 2025.
The company said it expects all the new technologies successfully implemented in this facility will allow it to optimize the design of its 3rd generation production facility, a 150-ton facility set to be built in the United States.
Ilan Sobel, BioHarvest CEO, highlighted that the new corporate campus would consolidate the company’s corporate, research and development (R&D) and production under a single roof.
The company expects its current R&D facility and corporate administrative offices in nearby Rehovot, Israel will be moved to the new campus in the next six to nine months.
"This is a significant milestone that will allow us to support the anticipated growth of our CDMO services business while concurrently building the manufacturing capacity necessary to support the rapid growth of our products business,” Sobel said.
"We were able to secure the facility lease and equipment purchase agreements on excellent terms. I look forward to continuing our steady cadence of operational execution in the months ahead as we strive to leverage the power of the plant kingdom to transform the pharmaceutical, cosmeceutical, nutraceutical, and food nutrition industries.”
The commercial lease is for 78 months at a cost of US$5.5 million, subject to changes in the Israeli consumer price index over the term of the lease, and the equipment purchase price was US$3.6 million.
BioHarvest Sciences leverages its patented technology platform to grow plant-based molecules, without the need to grow the underlying plant. Its two major business verticals are as a contract development and production organization (CDMO) on behalf of customers seeking complex molecules and as a creator of proprietary nutraceutical health and wellness products.