Paragon Bioservices, a private equity-backed biologics contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) that focuses on gene therapy and next-generation vaccines, has celebrated the grand opening of its new state-of-the-art 200,000-square-foot Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) gene therapy biomanufacturing facility, in Harmans.

The new state-of-the-art facility near BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport is equipped with several 500L and 2000L single-use bioreactors for clinical through commercial material production. Paragon has GMP projects underway with more than 20 of the top 40 leading gene-therapy biopharmaceutical companies in the world.

Paragon is one of Maryland’s largest and fastest-growing biotechnology companies in the state and is one of the leading CDMOs. The company employs a team of 350-plus at its University of Maryland, Baltimore BioPark location, in addition to the new commercial facility. Paragon anticipates growing to 500-plus employees by the end of the year.

“We believe that our new facility greatly adds to the attractiveness of the region from both an economic and workforce development standpoint,” said President and CEO Pete Buzy. “We’re part of a unique ecosystem centralized amongst many world-class academic and government research institutions and hundreds of life science companies on the I-270 corridor and beyond.”