Touchlight has received the first phase of planning approval for its manufacturing facility in Hampton, UK and extended its funding round to $125 million. Hampton, UK-based firm Touchlight announced in March it had raised £42 million ($58 million) through a fundraising round led by Bridford Investments Limited, which would see the firm expand its London facility. Now, the company has extended its fundraising to a total of £92 million ($125 million) on the back of increased demand for its synthetic…

MilliporeSigma has opened its second Carlsbad, California-based facility to support large-scale manufacturing for viral gene therapies. The life sciences services division of Merck KGaA, MilliporeSigma, announced its plans to invest $110 million to construct a second facility at its Carlsbad site in April 2020 as part of its gene therapy contract development manufacturing organization (CDMO) business. Now the firm has opened its doors to the 140,000 square-foot facility, which MilliporeSigma says will more than double its capacity to support large-scale industrial…