Launch of the world's first modular vaccines and biomedicines facilities

Modulus can manufacture up to four vaccines or biomedicines simultaneously. What is unique is that they can be reconfigured in a matter of days or weeks to change technological platform. This compares to several months or longer in conventional factories. Products will include attenuated viral vaccines, recombinant protein or messenger RNA vaccines. The units can also accommodate treatments derived from biotechnologies including enzymes or monoclonal antibodies.

The innovation of the Modulus facilities lies in their design. They house the equivalent of 34 standardized mini-factories. Each is equipped with interconnected equipment, modular according to the required technology. Production lines can be configured to meet current needs.

“PM Group were designers on the Modulus facilities project from Concept phase through to Detailed Design. They are the result of true partnership and innovation collaboration with our clients and the commitment of our team,” said Aidan Hennessy, Senior Project Manager, PM Group. “Their world-class design was unique in that it was replicated across two international locations. Standard facility design is becoming more common and we are proud to have been key designers for these highly innovative projects.”

The Modulus facilities are not just state-of-the-art, sustainable and connected factories. They are a revolution in the way Sanofi will manufacture vaccines and biomedicines in the coming decades. Sanofi has reinvented everything to create a factory that will best meet the health challenges of patients in France, Singapore and around the world.

Modulus is one of Sanofi’s key industrial investments aimed at supporting the company’s ambition to become the world leader in immunology, targeting diseases such as asthma, multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes and chronic bronchitis.

Pictured above: Aidan Hennessy (right) and Leonard Sheil, PM Group, at the French Modulus launch event in Neuville-sur-Saône, and below Sanofi's new Modulus facility in Singapore.