Children’s Medical Research Institute has welcomed the NSW Government’s establishment of a new company to run the viral vector manufacturing facility in Westmead – which will speed up the delivery of gene therapy treatments being developed in our labs and around the world.

In 2022 the NSW Government announced that it would open a new viral vector manufacturing facility, following advocacy from researchers like the head of CMRI’s Gene Therapy Research Unit Professor Ian Alexander. It has now committed $134.5m to establish the facility.

A vector is a microscopic tool used to deliver healthy copies of genes to tissues and organs within patients. While the technology is moving rapidly, production of vectors is not. Vectors can be used to treat illnesses isuch as life-threatening liver disease and inherited causes of blindness in children, but it can be extremely costly to get them to Australia and the waiting list is long.

The NSW Government has now announced it will establish a commercial company to run the facility.

Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said it was about expanding the cutting-edge world class work happening in Western Sydney.

“NSW is a globally recognised leader in developing and delivering gene therapies, cell therapies and vaccines, and viral vectors are a key part of many of these therapies.

“This commercial-scale facility will allow us to meet local manufacturing demand, and further establish us as a respected leader in this field.’’

Professor Alexander said there are 3000 genetic therapies in the developmental pathway globally, many in Australia.

"But most of them are in the laboratory, and what this initiative is going to help us do is take those therapies out of the laboratory and into the clinic at speed and with safety," he said.

“The overall aim is to bring the best possible therapies to people at the earliest possible moment. We intend for those therapies to not only be available to patients around Australia, but around the world so it really is global impact starting here in NSW.’’

Stage 1 of the facility is operational for use in gene therapy research with the first clinical trial anticipated to commence in 2025 using vectors from the facility.

The Stage 2 facility is currently under construction and once completed will provide NSW with a commercial-scale viral vector manufacturing facility capable of meeting the growing demand for viral vectors.