Author Archives: Dan Stanton

CSL to make ‘molecular clamp’ enabled COVID-19 vaccine for University of Queensland

by

A part-CEPI funded COVID-19 vaccine will be made by CSL at its site in Melbourne, Australia and will incorporate the MF59 adjuvant made by CSL subsidiary Seqirus. In January, the University of Queensland (UQ), Australia received funding of up to $10.6 million from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to help develop its vaccine against COVID-19, caused by the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). The candidate is based on proprietary the University’s proprietary “molecular clamp†vaccine platform, a technology that aims…

June 11, 2020

Fujifilm invests $928m to double capacity at ex-Biogen plant, adding 300 jobs

by

Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies will increase bioreactor capacity to 240,000 L at the recently acquired site in Denmark, feeding the high demand for biomanufacturing services. In March 2019, Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies (FDB) announced plans to buy a mammalian cell culture manufacturing facility in Hillerød, Denmark from biopharma firm Biogen. In August, the firms completed the $890 million deal. The acquisition was the largest investment both in terms of financials and in terms of capacity for the Fujifilm Corporation subsidiary, but 10…

June 10, 2020

WuXi Biologics expands US presence with 6,000L NJ plant

by

Chinese CDMO WuXi Biologics has entered a ten-year lease on a clinical biomanufacturing facility in New Jersey weeks after securing a production site in Massachusetts. The contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) announced yesterday it has signed a 10-year lease agreement for a clinical manufacturing facility in Cranbury, New Jersey. The 66,000 square-foot plant, expected to be operational later this year, will house 6,000 L of single-use bioreactors, a WuXi Biologics spokesperson told us, as well as process development (PD)…

June 10, 2020

Achilles becomes fifth company to take residency at CGT Catapult

by

Achilles Therapeutics will produce clinical material for its personalized T cell candidate from the Cell & Gene Therapy (CGT) Catapult. The Stevenage, UK-based CGT Catapult – established by non-departmental government body Innovate UK in 2017 to support the burgeoning sector – recently completed an expansion, adding six clean rooms. The first company to take manufacturing in this expanded space is Achilles Therapeutics, which is developing autologous cell therapies against advanced non-small cell lung cancer and recurrent metastatic melanoma. Using T…

June 9, 2020

COVID-19 round-up: Vaccine capacity M&A, deals and task orders

by

Emergent has received $628 million to support vaccine production; Novavax buys Czech Republic-based Praha Vaccines; Vaxart contracts Kindred Biosciences. Just another week in the fight against COVID-19. Emergent Biosolutions is working on several projects to support the development of COVID-19 vaccines but has been buoyed by a US government task order of $628 million to support rapid domestic production through 2021. The task order forms part of a contract with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the US Department…

June 4, 2020

COVID-19 vaccine: A $14bn opportunity for bioprocess vendors

by

The big four bioprocess vendors – Thermo Fisher, Danaher, MilliporeSigma, and Sartorius – are set to benefit from the commercial success of COVID-19 vaccines, according to Evercore ISI. There are a host of vaccine candidates targeting the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) moving into and through the clinic, and while there is no guarantee of success a breakthrough product will be a lucrative market opportunity. Specifically, a commercialized product could be worth upwards of $100 billion (€89 billion), according to the team…

June 4, 2020

A Boulder move: AGC Biologics snaps up former AZ plant for $100m

by

AGC Biologics has expanded its CDMO operations by acquiring a mothballed commercial-scale manufacturing facility from AstraZeneca and says it will hire 150 staff going forward. In January 2019, Anglo-Swedish firm AstraZeneca announced the closure of two Colorado-based biomanufacturing facilities acquired in 2015 and 2016 from fellow pharma giant Amgen. The decision to close the sites in Longmont and Boulder formed part of a plan to consolidate its biologics manufacturing network into one large-scale drug substance facility at its site in…

June 2, 2020

Thermo Fisher adding 12,000L to bio-capacity with Swiss plant from CSL

by

Thermo Fisher will take over operations at CSL’s biomanufacturing site in Lengnau – currently under construction – adding 12,000 L of stainless-steel bioreactor capacity to its CDMO network. CSL Behring broke ground on the 1.5 million square-foot site in Lengnau, near Bern in Switzerland back in 2015, with plans to use the facilities to manufacture recombinant products, specifically in its hematology pipeline. At the time, the firm, which invested approximately CHF 1 billion ($1 billion) into the project, said the…

June 2, 2020

AveXis redeploying CDMO gene therapy capacity to support COVID-19 project

by

The Novartis gene therapy business will contribute its technology and dedicated space at a facility run by CDMO Catalent to help produce a COVID-19 vaccine being developed by Massachusetts-based researchers. Massachusetts Eye and Ear and Massachusetts General Hospital have teamed to develop a vaccine candidate that uses an adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector to deliver and express the Spike gene of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, to elicit an immune response. The developers have turned to AveXis, the gene therapy division…

May 28, 2020

With $60m in hand, Gamida looks to build out cell therapy infrastructure

by

Gamida Cell will initiate a BLA submission for lead cell therapy omidubicel later this year and grow inhouse manufacturing capabilities to support production of cancer candidate GDA-201. Israeli cell therapy company Gamida Cell raised $60 million (€55 million) last week through a public share offering. The money will be used to support the approval application and manufacturing capabilities of its cell therapy products, the firm said on an investor call last week. Lead candidate omidubicel – formerly known as NiCord…

May 28, 2020