The mission of GenNBio is to “promote human welfare through the clinical adaptation of heterogeneous organs.” In Korea, 5.2 individuals pass away per day while awaiting a transplant, and the organ’s supply-to-demand ratio is 11.8%. The alternative to this shortage of transplantable organs is the development of heterogeneous organs, and GenNBio is taking the lead in helping people awaiting transplants by producing heterogeneous organs and related new drugs, as well as establishing a clinic that specializes in transplantation.
Located in Pyeongtaek, the GenN Core Center was designed to feature not just offices and laboratories but also a facility for breeding gnotobiotic pigs, a testing building where primates are used to assess the long-term safety of the organs, and a GMP building for making medicines. Furthermore, because there are not many foreign cases of a DPF facility for gnotobiotic pigs, and because it requires GLP and GMP clearances, GenNBio collaborated with designers and a wide range of consultants to develop a detailed and integrated masterplan.
The design of the plan took into account the interior and exterior circulation paths of the negative or positive pressure clean zone, the size of the cage that complies with the AAALAC-designated breed space scale, and the development of the SOP for GLP/GMP clearances. The CI of GenNBio that ‘symbolizes a life in which two different entities, namely a gene of an animal organ and a gene of a human being, are combined’ served as a motive, thereby the plan was materialized into an intersecting mass. To emphasize the symbolism, color points were added to the elevation pattern.
Thus, given the lack of similar facilities, research into heterogeneous organ technology is a challenging field with much more work to be done. We hope that with broad social acceptance and support, xeno-transplantation technology may be developed and applied more swiftly, opening up greater opportunities for mankind.