Seattle, WA, July 15, 2021 – Lumen Bioscience, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing biologic drugs for highly prevalent diseases, today announced the future expansion of its biologics manufacturing capabilities through a lease agreement to occupy a former bakery in the Fremont-Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle.

Once reconfigured by Lumen, the space will house a greatly expanded, cGMP-grade production facility for making the larger volumes of spirulina-based biologic drugs needed for Lumen Bio’s upcoming clinical trials.

“We’re excited to usher in a new era for this building, which will allow us to meet the needs of multiple, large clinical trials scheduled to commence next year,” said Craig Behnke, Executive Vice President, Production/Development at Lumen Bio. “This factory has safely produced food for decades, and it’s not a huge leap from making sourdough to spirulina-based drugs. Working with an experienced team of architects and contractors, we plan to commission the new facility within the next six months.”

The building was constructed in 1929 as home of the Buchan Baking Company.  It was operated into the modern era by the  Essential Baking Company starting in the 1990s. Essential’s commercial business outgrew the larger space in just a few years, but it continued to operate a café out of one corner of the building until March of 2020 when Essential decided to focus more on its wholesale bakery business.

“We are pleased to be able to expand our footprint in an ideal location across the street from our current headquarters office and lab. Our team and drug development efforts are growing rapidly, and this is a much-needed evolution to support this expansion,” said Brian Finrow, Lumen’s CEO.