Touchlight has been named the 2025 Facility of the Year category winner for innovation in the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE) Facility of the Year Awards (FOYA) in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Touchlight’s Morelands facility, located in a historic Victorian waterworks in Hampton, London, has been transformed into a world-class production hub for its enzymatic DNA technologies for advanced therapies.
The platform addresses key and long-standing challenges associated with traditional plasmid DNA (pDNA) manufacturing by eliminating fermentation processes and antibiotic resistance sequences while achieving greater purity and sequence flexibility.
The facility’s expansion has tripled production capacity, making it the largest cell-free DNA manufacturing site globally.
“The site was dormant for more than 70 years before we repurposed it to become one of the largest DNA manufacturing facilities in the world,” said Jonny Ohlson, founder and Executive Chair of Touchlight.
“The Victorians were brilliant at showcasing their technologies, yet this facility had been forgotten."
"Our thesis was that if you created the most beautiful environment, you would attract the most brilliant scientists."
"Genetic medicines are advancing rapidly to treat stubborn cancers and genetic diseases and we are attracting the pioneers to the UK for their DNA requirement.”
A facility built for innovation
Touchlight’s dbDNA platform rapidly synthesises large quantities of highly pure DNA, enabling the development of genetic medicines.
Designed with flexibility and scalability in mind, the Morelands facility supports simultaneous GMP manufacturing of multiple products.
As the only cell-free DNA manufacturer with eight IND/CTA filings in collaboration with its clients, Touchlight is working with pharmaceutical companies, biotechs and academics to advance therapies for unmet diseases.
Touchlight also earned the Business Innovator Award in the SAP UKI Customer Success Awards 2024 due to its implementation of SAP S/4HANA Cloud to enhance operational efficiency, improve traceability and support future expansion.
Additionally, Touchlight has integrated green manufacturing techniques that reduce water and energy consumption, including through the use of renewable energy.
“We are honoured to have been named the ISPE Facility of the Year Award Innovation Winner,” said Jonny Ohlson, Executive Chair and founder of Touchlight.
“As we look ahead to the upcoming awards ceremony in Charlotte, we are proud to stand alongside other leading organisations driving progress in the industry."
"This recognition highlights the dedication of our team and the transformative potential of our Hampton facility in shaping the future of DNA manufacturing.”