Author Archives: Dan Stanton

Danaher offloads assets to Sartorius for $750m; GE buy pushed back to 2020

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Sartorius will add biomolecular characterization, chromatography hardware and resins, and microcarriers in the deal, dependent on the closure of Danaher’s acquisition of GE Healthcare’s Biopharma business. Earlier this year, Danaher Corporation announced its intention to increase its presence in the bioprocessing space through the full biopharma portion of GE Healthcare’s Life Sciences business for approximately $21.4 billion (€19.2 billion). The GE business unit will, once the deal closes, become the latest subsidiary of Danaher, which boasts Pall Corporation, Sciex, and…

October 21, 2019

Genmab signs up to Lonza’s Ibex design and development service

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Danish drugmaker Genmab has upped its relationship with long-term CDMO partner Lonza by reserving space at the Ibex Design and Ibex Develop facilities in Switzerland. Contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) is constructing a biopark at its site and headquarters in Visp, Switzerland, to support its range of Ibex biologics development and manufacturing services. Denmark’s Genmab has been working with Lonza on multiple antibody-based programs since 2002, and with its strategy to fully outsource its biomanufacturing, the firm has reserved…

October 19, 2019

Combigene teams with Cobra and NBR on epilepsy gene therapy

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Cobra Biologics will produce the AAV viral vector for Combigene’s epilepsy gene therapy from its facilities in Keele, UK. Nordic gene therapy company Combigene’s CG01 candidate is based on an adeno-associated viral vector (AAV) which administers a combination of neuropeptide Y (NPY) and its receptor Y2 directly to the part of the brain where epileptic seizures begin. The project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program and the manufacturing process was developed at the…

October 18, 2019

Avid expands Californian PD and lab capabilities

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Process development (PD) is a vital CDMO function and one that Avid will continue to invest in, the firm says as it opens a multi-million-dollar expansion in Orange County. Avid Bioservices opened the doors on an expansion at its site in Orange County, California last week. The multi-million-dollar investment increases the contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) process development (PD) laboratory footprint four-fold, adding 24 benchtop process development bioreactors, ranging from 3 liter to 15-liter capacity in single-use and glass.…

October 17, 2019

J&J downgrades biosimilar threat as Q3 pulls in $10bn+ in pharma sales

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J&J reported its sixth consecutive quarter with sales above $10 billion in its pharmaceutical division and has lowered its biosimilar headwind forecast to $2 billion. For the third quarter 2019, Johnson & Johnson (J&J) reported sales across all its units of $20.7 billion (€18.8 billion). Its pharmaceutical division pulled in roughly half of the total, $10.8 billion, up 5.1% on the same quarter last year. “This was our sixth consecutive quarter with sales above $10 billion,†Jennifer Taubert, EVP and…

October 16, 2019

Sanofi opens $320m continuous biologics plant in MA

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French drugmaker Sanofi Genzyme has completed process qualification runs at a plant in Framingham based on digital and continuous biologics production technologies. Sanofi announced today that following successful process qualification runs in the last quarter, it has inaugurated a digitally-enabled, continuous manufacturing facility at its site in Framingham, Massachusetts. Nicolas Kressmann, a spokesperson from Sanofi, told Bioprocess Insider that the plant represented an investment of €290 million ($320 million) between 2014 and 2018. The French Big Biopharma firm spends around…

October 15, 2019

MilliporeSigma goes acoustic with FloDesign Sonics buy

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Merck KGaA unit MilliporeSigma has boosted its CAR-T autologous manufacturing services by buying FloDesign Sonics, adding an acoustic cell processing platform. MilliporeSigma, the life sciences division of Germany’s Merck, says it intends to offer the tech platform of its new acquisition to cell therapy manufacturing customers. Massachusetts-based FloDesign Sonics’ first commercial product, Ekko, allows the wash, concentration and formulation is based on its acoustic wave separation (AWS) system that uses a three-dimensional standing wave that traps and gathers cells in…

October 14, 2019

Swiss CDMO Lonza testing the water in China… for now

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With China set to become a major hub of biotech innovation, Lonza CEO Marc Funk says the CDMO will take a pragmatic approach to expanding its position from “timid actor” to major player in the region. When Marc Funk became CEO of Lonza in March 2019, he had two immediate objectives. The first was to carve out the contract development and manufacturing organization’s (CDMO) Specialty Ingredients segment (LSI) and the second was for the firm to be recognized more of…

October 11, 2019

Novo Nordisk and bluebird to develop ‘once and done’ hemophilia gene therapy

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The three-year collaboration will use bluebird bio’s mRNA-based megaTAL gene editing technology to develop a one-off therapy for patients with hemophilia. Novo Nordisk has had a longstanding focus on the hemophilia space. The Danish drugmaker has marketed several replacement factors for hemophilia patients and has a monoclonal antibody in Phase II studies: Concizumab, a Tissue Factor Pathway Inhibitor (TFPI) intended for bleeding prevention after subcutaneous administration. But a partnership announced this week with regenerative medicine firm bluebird bio will look…

October 10, 2019

Novartis supply-ready for approved wet AMD antibody fragment

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Novartis says it is confident in its ability to supply Beovu (brolucizumab) after the single-chain antibody fragment received US FDA approval for treating wet AMD. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week approved Novartis’ anti-VEGF product Beovu for the treatment of patients with wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) on a three-month dosing interval. A Novartis spokesperson did not divulge where the antibody fragment is made but told this publication the firm is confident in its ability to meet…

October 9, 2019