Life Experience

Item Description

Genentech

Exclusive, Private

"Bio Technologist for a Day"

Behind the ScenesTour

Genentech in support of Solano Community College is providing a private behind-the-scenes tour of its Vacaville Manufacturing Facility.

This exclusive 2 hour tour, plus a 1 hour Q&A with refreshments and Genentech logo items is a rare opportunity for you and 3 of your friends or family members (4 people total) to see how the largest BioTech manufacturer in the world operates.

This tour is not available to the general public and is offered by special arrangement through the Solano Community College Foundation. Visit Genentech and Vacaville Site to learn more about this amazing company.

Vacaville California

Genentech's Vacaville, California, site is located on 100 acres in Solano County, approximately 50 miles northeast of San Francisco. Acquired in 1994, it was first licensed to produce a biologic in 2000. The site houses manufacturing operations as well as quality and administrative services. Currently, the Vacaville facility is undergoing a major expansion. When it is completed, the Vacaville operation will be the largest biotechnology manufacturing plant of its kind in the world.

Item donation arranged by

SCC Foundation Diretor Kimber Hoey

Auction winner needs to contact the Foundation to initiate arrangements for the Genentech Vacaville Tour.

Item Special Note

Genentech's facility in Vacaville, California is one of the world's largest biotechnology manufacturing plants for the large-scale production of pharmaceutical proteins from mammalian cells. The facility opened in 1998 and was licensed by the FDA in May 2000. Today, Genentech Vacaville Product Operations employs more than 700 individuals in the areas of manufacturing, quality and administration.

Products manufactured in Genentech's Vacaville Product Operations, licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to manufacture four FDA-approved products:

• Rituxan® (Rituximab) is indicated for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory, low-grade or follicular, CD20-positive, B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL); for the first-line treatment of diffuse large B-cell, CD20-positive, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (DLBCL- a type of NHL) in combination with CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone) or other anthracycline-based chemotherapy regimens; for the first-line treatment of follicular, CD20-positive, B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in combination with CVP (cyclophosphamide, vincristine and prednisolone) chemotherapy; for the treatment of low-grade, CD20-positive, B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in patients with stable disease or who achieve a partial or complete response following first-line treatment with CVP chemotherapy; and for use in combination with methotrexate (MTX) for reducing signs and symptoms in adult patients with moderately- to severely-active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who have had an inadequate response to one or more tumor necrosis factor (TNF) antagonist therapies.
• Herceptin® (Trastuzumab) is indicated for the treatment of an advanced form of metastasized breast cancer. Herceptin, approved by the FDA in 1998, is the first humanized antibody approved for the treatment of HER2 positive metastatic breast cancer. Herceptin is designed to target and block the function of HER2 protein overexpression.
• Xolair® (Omalizumab) for Subcutaneous Use is indicated for the treatment of moderate-to-severe persistent asthma in adults and adolescents. Approved by the FDA in 2003, Xolair is the first humanized therapeutic antibody for the treatment of asthma and the first approved therapy designed to target the antibody IgE, a key underlying cause of the symptoms of allergy related asthma.
• Avastin® (bevacizumab) is the first FDA-approved therapy designed to inhibit angiogenesis, the process by which new blood vessels develop and carry vital nutrients to a tumor. The FDA approved Avastin in February 2004. Avastin is approved for use for use in combination with intravenous 5-fluorouracil-based chemotherapy for first- or second-line treatment of patients with metastatic carcinoma of the colon or rectum. In October 2006, the FDA also approved Avastin in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel for the first-line treatment of patients with unresectable, locally advanced, recurrent or metastatic non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Vacaville Product Operations.

Genentech's Vacaville Product Operations is located on a 100-acre site, about 50 miles northeast of San Francisco and 30 miles southwest of Sacramento along Interstate 80. The plant is located 60 miles from Genentech's corporate headquarters in South San Francisco.

Genentech's seven existing buildings in Vacaville cover approximately 33 acres and comprise more than 427,000 square feet of space devoted to manufacturing, maintenance, laboratories, office space and warehousing.

Vacaville Product Operations currently houses twelve 12,000-liter fermenters, in which mass cultures grow and products develop.

Expansion.

On April 1, 2004, as part of the company's strategy to develop the infrastructure necessary to support a major period of commercialization, Genentech announced its decision to expand its Vacaville facility. The expansion includes both manufacturing and administrative buildings.

In addition to the existing capacity, the new manufacturing facility will be configured with eight, 25,000-liter fermentation tanks and will add 380,000 square feet of new facilities in Vacaville. When completed, Genentech expects to employ 575 new employees — nearly doubling the original number of employees located at the Vacaville Product Operations site when the project was first announced. Construction on the expansion began in the third quarter of 2004 and the new complex is expected to be licensed in 2009 with an investment of approximately $600 million.

A new administration building is planned and will consist of three-stories and 135,000 square feet dedicated for administrative offices, a new cafeteria, as well as a data center. Completion of this building is scheduled for December 2005.

Community Involvement.

Genentech's Vacaville facility is an established member of the Vacaville and Solano County communities. The company is a strong supporter of the local area through charitable donations to civic, cultural and educational nonprofit organizations. Most recently, Genentech granted $500,000 to support construction of a new emergency room at VacaValley hospital that will meet the needs of the local community.

Since 1993, Genentech has worked closely with local educational institutions to support and improve biotechnology education. Genentech and Solano Community College partnered to create an innovative workforce development model in the form of a biotechnology certificate program to provide technical education to students interested in careers in biotechnology. Genentech has also supported the University of California at Davis through frequent biotechnology lectures, research collaborations and student internships. In addition, each year, local students participate in the Genentech Scholars Program, a program for high school and college students that grants educational scholarships and gives college-level students the opportunity to augment their academic knowledge with "real-world" industry experience through an internship at Genentech.

Genentech employees are active in a wide array of community-based initiatives as volunteers and civic leaders. In addition, Genentech supports the local community through corporate contributions, volunteering and other outreach programs including the company's signature local economic development program, "Genentech Goes to Town," which provides Genentech employees "GenenMoney" to be used exclusively in Vacaville's downtown business district each fall. Celebrating its fifth year in Vacaville in 2004, this program has involved thousands of employees and infused nearly $65,000 directly into the local economy since its inception.

About Genentech.

Genentech is a leading biotechnology company that discovers, develops, manufactures and commercializes biotherapeutics for significant unmet medical needs. A considerable number of the currently approved biotechnology products originated from, or are based on, Genentech science. Genentech manufactures and commercializes multiple biotechnology products and licenses several additional products to other companies. The company has headquarters in South San Francisco, California and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DNA. For additional information about the company, please visit http://www.gene.com.