"The move to Breda was a pleasant surprise."

Repligen is an American company dedicated to the development and production of materials used in the manufacture of biologic drugs. I speak with Patrick Leenderste. He is Site Lead at Repligen Breda. Patrick: "As a company we are active in the pharmaceutical industry, especially as a supplier to the well-known pharmaceutical companies. In 2020, we started a project distributing and warehousing for Europe at our existing location, and built a production facility here in Breda. I started at Repligen at that time."

Repligen has grown considerably here in Breda in recent years, I understand?

That's right. In 2020 we started here with twelve people. I was number thirteen. And today we have 55 employees and have built a completely new production facility for making Opus columns. An Opus column is a kind of filter that is used by our customers in the manufacture of medicines and vaccines. Including for COVID. Therefore, we have been very busy recently.

Many of our customers in Europe have been asking for a European production location for a long time. And because Repligen had an existing distribution location in Breda for of all kinds of other Repligen products, and space was also available there to build a production facility, the choice was quickly made.

Why else was the production site was established in Breda?

There were multiple considerations. For instance, we examined the level of education in the Netherlands and the state of the investment climate. But also: How is the infrastructure around Breda? What about education? Does it combine with knowledge and experience? Those sorts of things were considered when deciding where to locate the European production site. Breda’s location was also important. Breda is located near roads and has a good connection with the major cities and airports.

Do you think Breda has more to offer?

I find Breda a very beautiful city. A bustling city where a lot happens. I come from the Randstad myself (the area of urban sprawl around Amsterdam, Rotterdam). The move to Brabant, and in particular, Breda, has been a pleasant surprise in the sense that it is so easy to contact people, other companies, and government agencies. It was effortless to connect with the municipality. I found a listening ear for the challenges I faced, for example during the construction and granting of permits and all kinds of difficult issues that came with it. Quite different from what I was used to in the Randstad.

Can you tell us something about the people who work at Repligen in Breda?

Our group of employees is very diverse. Within Repligen, diversity is a particularly important topic. For instance, we have people of thirteen different nationalities working within our company. We have recently introduced something new. Once every six weeks we organize a lunch consisting of two themes. One of the themes is businesslike in nature, so what is going on within the organization. The other theme is more personal: the lunch is put together by one of our employees. And so sometimes we’ll suddenly eat authentic Sri Lankan food. Everyone loves that.

Perhaps that also gives room to other topics of conversation?

Yes, there will certainly be other things that come up. In the example of lunch made by a Sri Lankan colleague, we also watched a short film about the country. It's never been quieter. That was very nice to see. And then come the questions. And because everyone is present, everyone also learns. Then you get to know each other much better. It’s my experience that so far that everyone feels very quickly at home here.

Why do you think that is?

I think it has to do with several things. For instance, the way we receive people here. And with the culture that we have within the company. Also, our values. Collaboration is high on our agenda, but transparency and honesty are also highly valued at Repligen.