Bill Gates Cuts Ribbon At Seattle-Area Pneumonia Vaccine Plant

WOODINVILLE, WA —Microsoft co-founder and billionaire Bill Gates helped cut the ribbon Monday at Inventprise's new manufacturing facility in Woodinville, which is expected to produce vaccines against pneumococcal disease —pneumonia— for low- and middle-income countries.

The highly-automated facility is supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which pledged up to $90 million to Redmond-based Inventprise's strategic investment fund last November.

Production of the pneumococcal vaccines at the facility is expected to reach tens of millions of doses in the coming years in anticipation of the completion of later-stage clinical trials and application for WHO prequalification, according to Inventprise.

The clinical trials of the vaccine are expected to start this fall for children and adults, GeekWire reported.

"Pneumonia is the leading killer of children worldwide, especially in low- and middle-income countries where access to lifesaving vaccines is still far too limited," Gates said. "The opening of Inventprise's new facility marks an important step forward in increasing the supply of affordable vaccines."

Though the focus initially will be on low- and middle-income countries, Inventprise said the 70,000-square foot facility also has the capability to meet additional global demand for the vaccine in higher-income countries. GeekWire suggested that Inventprise eventually could edge into the commercial market for pneumococcal vaccines currently dominated by Pfizer.

Yves Leurquin, CEO of Inventprise, said it is rare for a company to begin its vaccine production for low and middle-income countries.

"This plant has a capacity that is high enough to make the vaccine available on a broader global basis as well," Leurquin said. "This is reversing the usual vaccine development path, where vaccines are first launched in high-income countries and later, made available to low- and middle-income countries."

According to Inventprise, the site will support continuous manufacturing, with highly sophisticated instruments monitoring the manufacturing processes to ensure the vaccine components meet stringent regulatory standards.

Once the product starts, GeekWire reported, no human will need to be inside the rooms to operate the system while it's running.

"What you've made is super state-of-the-art and super low cost and super high quality," Gates told Inventprise's leadership team at the ribbon-cutting.

According to GeekWire, Inventprise was founded 10 years ago by vaccine-development veteran Subhash Kapre in a 700-square-foot space in Seattle.

The company has grown to more than 100 employees and several locations east of Seattle. Though Leurquin took over as CEO last fall, Kapre remains the company's executive chairman, and he said Monday was a proud day for the company.

"Today is an exceptional day for innovative vaccine development because we have invented a broadly protective vaccine candidate which has the potential to be available first for the most vulnerable populations in the poorest countries and at an uncompromised level of quality," Kapre said.