Agilent Expands Oligonucleotide Manufacturing Capabilities With New Boulder Laboratory
Agilent Technologies has announced the addition of new laboratory space in Boulder, Colorado, to support the expansion of its oligonucleotide manufacturing capabilities. The new facility is expected to strengthen the company’s ability to develop and scale emerging manufacturing technologies for oligonucleotide therapeutics, with an initial focus on enzymatic ligation. The expansion reflects Agilent’s ongoing efforts to evaluate innovative production approaches and support customers as they advance therapeutic programs from early development toward commercialization.
The additional laboratory space will provide a dedicated environment for evaluating manufacturing processes and assessing technologies that may address the evolving needs of the oligonucleotide therapeutics market. Through this investment, Agilent aims to complement its existing operations in Colorado and its broader manufacturing capabilities in Canada, supporting a more extensive service offering for customers developing advanced medicines.
Oligonucleotide therapeutics are an important area of pharmaceutical development, using short strands of nucleic acids to target specific biological processes. These therapies include small interfering RNA (siRNA) and antisense oligonucleotides, which are being developed for a range of potential therapeutic applications. As research programs progress toward clinical development and commercialization, manufacturers must identify production methods that can meet demanding technical, quality, and scalability requirements.
New Boulder Laboratory to Support Advanced Therapeutics Manufacturing
Agilent’s new Boulder laboratory is intended to support the development and scale-up of emerging manufacturing technologies for oligonucleotide therapeutics. The facility will initially concentrate on enzymatic ligation, an approach that is being evaluated as a complement to established oligonucleotide synthesis methods.
The laboratory will give Agilent’s teams a dedicated setting to evaluate customer-specific enzymatic ligation processes and explore how the approach may be applied to different manufacturing programs. By expanding its laboratory infrastructure, the company expects to enhance its ability to investigate alternative production methods and respond to changing customer requirements.
The expansion builds on Agilent’s existing oligonucleotide operations in Colorado and its broader manufacturing capabilities in Canada. These capabilities form part of the company’s Advanced Therapeutics Division, which provides development and current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) manufacturing services for oligonucleotide therapeutics.
The addition of laboratory space is designed to complement these existing resources rather than replace established manufacturing approaches. By evaluating emerging technologies alongside proven processes, Agilent intends to provide customers with additional options as they determine the most suitable production strategy for their therapeutic candidates.
The company expects the new laboratory to support work that connects process development with manufacturing scale-up. This is particularly important for therapeutic programs that must progress through successive development stages, where production methods may need to be assessed and adapted as technical requirements evolve.
Agilent Evaluates Enzymatic Ligation for Oligonucleotide Production
Enzymatic ligation is the initial technology focus for the new Boulder laboratory. The process uses enzymes to join shorter oligonucleotide fragments into longer therapeutic molecules. This approach is being evaluated as a complement to solid-phase phosphoramidite synthesis, an established method widely used in oligonucleotide development and manufacturing.
The evaluation of enzymatic ligation reflects the broader need to assess different manufacturing technologies for complex therapeutic molecules. Each oligonucleotide program can have its own technical requirements, production scale, and development objectives. Evaluating alternative approaches may help manufacturers determine which process is appropriate for a particular program.
Solid-phase phosphoramidite synthesis remains an established manufacturing method for oligonucleotides. Enzymatic ligation offers another approach that may be considered alongside existing synthesis techniques, depending on the characteristics and requirements of the molecule being produced.
Agilent’s new laboratory will provide a setting for further evaluating customer processes involving enzymatic ligation. The company intends to examine how these processes can be developed and scaled to support customer programs, while considering applicable operational and regulatory requirements.
The two approaches may provide greater flexibility when selecting a manufacturing process based on a program’s scale and technical demands. However, the appropriate method will depend on the individual therapeutic program and the requirements established during development.
By dedicating laboratory space to this work, Agilent is positioning its Advanced Therapeutics Division to continue assessing new production technologies and their potential applications in oligonucleotide manufacturing.
Supporting Customers From Development Through Commercialization
Agilent’s Advanced Therapeutics Division provides development and cGMP manufacturing services for oligonucleotide therapeutics, including siRNA and antisense oligonucleotides. These services are intended to support customers as therapeutic candidates progress through development and toward potential commercialization.
The development of oligonucleotide medicines requires specialized technical expertise and manufacturing processes suited to the characteristics of these molecules. As programs mature, manufacturers must evaluate how production processes can be adapted to meet changing scale, quality, and technical requirements.
Agilent’s laboratory expansion is intended to support this progression by providing additional space for technology evaluation and process development. The company’s existing operations in Colorado, together with its broader manufacturing capabilities in Canada, provide the foundation for its oligonucleotide services.
The new laboratory is expected to complement these capabilities by allowing teams to focus on emerging manufacturing technologies that may help address specific customer needs. This work could support decisions about production methods as customers move from initial development activities toward larger-scale manufacturing.
Blake Unterreiner, vice president and business unit leader for Agilent’s Advanced Therapeutics Division, said the company continues to assess technologies that can help customers advance their therapeutic programs.
“We continue to evaluate manufacturing technologies that can help our customers advance oligonucleotide therapeutics from development toward commercialization,” Unterreiner said. “The additional laboratory space gives our teams a dedicated environment to further evaluate the customer’s enzymatic ligation processes and respond to evolving customer manufacturing needs.”
His comments highlight the purpose of the expansion: to create additional capacity for assessing customer processes and exploring technologies that may become useful in future manufacturing programs.
Initial Customer Programs Expected in November 2026
Agilent expects initial customer programs to begin in the Boulder laboratory in November 2026, subject to applicable operational and regulatory requirements. The planned start represents the next step in bringing the additional laboratory space into use for customer-focused technology evaluation and manufacturing development activities.
The initial emphasis on enzymatic ligation will allow Agilent to examine customer processes using this approach while building on its established oligonucleotide capabilities. The company has not indicated that the technology will replace solid-phase phosphoramidite synthesis. Instead, enzymatic ligation is being evaluated as a complementary option that may provide greater flexibility for certain manufacturing programs.
As pharmaceutical developers continue advancing oligonucleotide therapeutics, access to specialized development and manufacturing services remains important for translating promising research into production-ready processes. Agilent’s expansion is intended to help meet those needs through additional laboratory infrastructure and continued evaluation of manufacturing technologies.
Customers seeking further information about the company’s clinical-to-commercial-scale oligonucleotide capabilities and services can visit Agilent’s Advanced Therapeutics website at Agilent Advanced Therapeutics also shares updates through its LinkedIn page.
Advancing Oligonucleotide Manufacturing Capabilities
The new Boulder laboratory represents an expansion of Agilent’s efforts to support oligonucleotide therapeutics through development services, cGMP manufacturing, and the evaluation of emerging production technologies. By establishing dedicated laboratory space for enzymatic ligation, the company aims to assess alternative manufacturing approaches and respond to the changing needs of customers developing advanced therapies.
With initial customer programs expected to begin in November 2026, the laboratory will complement Agilent’s existing operations in Colorado and its broader manufacturing capabilities in Canada. The expansion underscores the company’s focus on exploring production methods that may offer additional flexibility as oligonucleotide programs advance toward commercialization.
Through continued investment in laboratory capabilities and manufacturing technology evaluation, Agilent intends to support customers in identifying suitable production strategies for their oligonucleotide therapeutics and addressing the technical demands of evolving development programs.
