I wrote this article for the Adirondack Explorer newspaper on Sept. 27, 2023.
Harrietstown business expansion aims to add 60 jobs
By Mark Marchand
Adirondacks-based Bionique Testing Laboratories LLC is planning to triple the size of its workforce and the company’s existing lab testing facility, according to a filing with the Adirondack Park Agency.
The May 15, 2023, filing – submitted on behalf of Bionique by Robert M. Sutherland P.C – indicates the company wants to erect a 19,000 square-foot addition adjacent to its existing 9,459 square-foot building. As part of the expansion, according to the filing, the company would add about 60 new jobs within five years at the 156 Far Brook Lane operation in the town of Harrietstown. Bionique employs 30 staff members at the site near the Adirondack Regional Airport in Lake Clear. Parking capacity would increase from 50 spaces today to over 100 when expansion is completed to accommodate an estimated 90 employees.
For over 30 years Bionique has provided a lab process called mycoplasma testing for various companies in the life sciences industry, searching for bacteria in cell therapies, cell banks, raw materials, unprocessed bulk harvest, and final drug products, according to the company’s website.
The company also supports emerging applications of rapid microbial methods and commercialization for biopharmaceutical and gene therapy products. Company employees also consult on regulatory and compliance issues. These services, according to the website, are provided to clients and partners in the biopharmaceutical and cell therapy industries, during discovery research, clinical trials, and commercialization.
Aaron J. Owens, of the Sutherland engineering firm in Plattsburgh, said in the filing, “Bionique is in need of additional laboratory space to be able to handle current and future growth as well as meeting the CGMP requirements of modern laboratories.” CGMP stands for Current Good Manufacturing Practice Regulations enforced by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Bionique CEO Gladis Zamparo declined comment to the Explorer, citing company policy to wait until the comment period for the filing ends.
The expanded facility, according to the filing, would require no new entrances. Water would continue to be provided from private wells on the site, while sewage would be treated by the onsite sanitary sewer, similar to what takes place now.
Stormwater runoff would be directed to a shallow absorption area on the south side of the property.
The Sutherland company said the proposed construction timeline starts the work in June of 2023, with completion in February, 2025. The filing has not been updated with a new start date.
Bionique, which in 2021 was acquired by Japan-based Asahi Kasei Medical Co. Ltd., indicated at the time of that transaction that the company would expand. Under terms of the acquisition, Bionique is working with another Asahi company – Austria-based Virusure GmbH – as part of a global biosafety testing unit.