Moderna Wins ISPE Facility of the Future Award
06/03/19
No one here at Hereva was surprised when Moderna won the prestigious ISPE Facility of the Future Award for their cGMP clinical manufacturing facility in Norwood, MA.
Hereva was chosen by Moderna to be Owner’s Representative and oversee the design, construction and finish of what was a 1970’s era manufacturing site, turning it into a state-of-the-art facility comprised of multiple, flexible cGMP suites for mRNA clinical manufacturing.
The first challenge was to construct a Cambridge facility in the suburbs. Moderna wanted a space that maintained the look and feel of its Cambridge spaces in order to foster the connection between facilities and to also entice employees with the same high level of amenities. We worked closely with the client to understand company and employee needs, bringing in high design, and the concept of limited fixed seating within wide, transparent spaces.
This highlighted Moderna’s brand: a seamless, futuristic blend between office and lab, where collaboration and innovation are highlighted throughout, and employees can proudly display their ground-breaking work, putting science front and center. An amenities wing includes a fitness center, conference facility and a cafeteria allowing employees to gather, unwind, and exchange ideas.
Right from the start, a forward-thinking approach allowed for the implementation of the latest technologies and tools. The team focused on a digital integration to every aspect of the building, including utilizing robotics, automation, and cloud-based programming. The integration of the enterprise resource planning system with electronic production records, process control systems, the data historian, and laboratory information management system was a direct result of applying digital technology throughout the site. The flexibility this allows enables rapid new production introduction, using integrated digital technology throughout the site to streamline product manufacturing, testing and release.
Hereva accomplished Moderna’s objectives of having a state-of-the-art fully integrated facility capable of manufacturing an expanding pipeline of drug candidates in a highly adaptable platform. We congratulate them on having their facility recognized by ISPE.
Moderna is pioneering a new class of medicines made of messenger RNA, or mRNA. The potential implications of using mRNA as a drug are significant and far-reaching. It could transform not only how certain diseases are treated but also how medicines are discovered, developed and manufactured, all at a breadth, scale and speed uncommon in the biopharma industry.
Since foundation in 2011, they have built the industry’s leading mRNA technology platform, the infrastructure to accelerate drug discovery and speed early development, a rapidly expanding pipeline, and an unparalleled team.
About the award
ISPE’s Facility of the Year Awards is the premier global awards program recognizing innovation and creativity in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology manufacturing industries.
ISPE’s FOYA is an annual program recognizing projects utilizing new, innovative technologies to improve the quality of products, to reduce the cost of producing high-quality medicines, and demonstrate advances in project delivery.
The entire project team is proud to have been a part of Moderna’s award-winning building alongside our project partners, TRIA, DPS and Wise Construction.
