From retail to GMP-compliant production space

io, the technical consulting and planning company, has added another life sciences sector to its range of industries since the beginning of 2021: the production of drugs from whole blood. BZD Gesellschaft für Transfusionsmedizin Duisburg mbH, a provider of high-quality blood products, has commissioned io to plan its new production facilities in Duisburg. Former retail space is being converted into GMP-compliant production space.

BZD supplies hospitals and physicians in private practices with erythrocyte concentrate and frozen fresh plasma from whole blood, as well as platelet concentrate from apheresis. These come from four donation centers in North Rhine-Westphalia. In January 2021, io was entrusted with designing the new donation center’s production areas in Duisburg. The lead consultants from io convinced the customer with their integrative and innovative solutions. As a result, they were awarded the contract for the planning and implementation support of the new premises in an existing building.

The focus during the expansion phases is on providing technical advice to the customer and on supervising and coordinating the specialist trades involved on site. Converting former retail space into GMP-compliant production space is a special challenge here. “In addition to our specialist experience on possible expansion options, a close, cooperative partnership between all parties involved – customer, specialist planners, and suppliers – is called for,” says Marcel Denis Mayer, project manager and senior consultant in the pharma/biotech division at io.

The new production areas will be implemented in two expansion stages: following a successful acceptance test, the Düsseldorf district government recently gave the go-ahead for Stage I, the regular commercial operation of the cold storage and dispatch facilities.

io congratulates BZD on achieving this milestone and looks forward to completing the second expansion phase, which includes the cold storage and production areas.