Author Archives: Millie Nelson

Maturing gene therapy pipelines driving Catalent growth and expansion

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As pharma’s gene therapy pipeline matures, Catalent plans to invest more in the sector to meet high viral vector demand and advance growth. For the third quarter 2022, contract development manufacturing organization (CDMO) Catalent reported total revenues of $1.27 billion, an increase of 21% year-on-year. Catalent’s biologics segment came out as the top contributor to the CDMO’s financial performance, showcasing $698 million, representing net revenue growth of 30%over last year. Part of this success was due to “a notable increase 

May 4, 2022

PE firm Astorg to buy CordenPharma from ICIG

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Astorg Partners has signed an agreement with International Chemical Investors Group (ICIG) to acquire CDMO CordenPharma. According to French private equity firm Astorg, ICIG chose to sell contract development manufacturing organization (CDMO) CordenPharma after a strategic portfolio review, which concluded its aim to focus more on its chemicals portfolio. Under the terms of the deal, ICIG  will reinvest as partners with Astorg to develop CDMO would further. “We look forward to having the opportunity to partner with ICIG and [CordenPharma’s]…

May 4, 2022

Quell and Cellistic partner to develop cell therapy platform

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The aim of the collaboration is to support the expansion of Quell’s autologous T-regulatory (Treg) cell therapy pipeline using Cellistic’s knowledge of iPSC processes. Under the terms of the deal, Quell Therapeutics and human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology development and manufacturing firm Cellistic will take part in joint research to form a process for differentiating iPSCs into functional Treg cell therapy products. According to Quell, it will contribute its Treg expertise and technologies, as well as characterizing Treg…

May 2, 2022

US Gov awards $10.6m freeze-dried plasma contract to Terumo

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Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies has won a $10.6 million contract from the US Government to continue freeze-dried plasma (FDP) development. Apheresis services firm Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies has entered into a contract with the Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium (MTEC), which is an Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) with the US Army Medical Research and Development Command. In 2016, Terumo was awarded initial funding of $1.9 million (potential to be increased to $16 million) from the US Government to support…

May 2, 2022

Scorpion to build $650m biodefense-focused plant in Kansas

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CDMO Scorpion Biological Services has entered a planned development partnership to construct a biodefense and biomanufacturing facility in Manhattan, Kansas. Contract development manufacturing organization (CDMO) Scorpion has announced a development collaboration with a private developer, the state of Kansas, and university affiliates to build a biodefense-focused large molecule and biologics biomanufacturing plant. According to the CDMO, the 500,000 square-foot plant will service around 144,000 L of biomanufacturing capacity across 48 bioreactors, which is being designed for large molecule biologics production.…

April 29, 2022

Enzyvant to build regenerative med plant in NC to support Rethymic

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Enzyvant says the construction of a regenerative medicine facility in Morrisville, North Carolina will bolster its size, flexibility, and capability to support its commercial needs. Financial details of the expansion remain under wraps, but regenerative medicine focused firm Enzyvant says the development of a 25,972 square-foot facility will begin this summer and take around two and a half years to complete. The plant is located within the Research Triangle Park area and is being co-developed by and operated with Sumitomo…

April 29, 2022

Shingrix sales bounce back post-pandemic for GSK

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GSK says its vaccine turnover for this quarter benefited from Shingrix’s post-pandemic recovery in the US and Europe. For the first quarter 2022, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) reported its vaccine business made a total of £1.7 billion ($2.1 billion) in sales. £698 million ($866 million) of this was made up of Shingrix sales, the firm’s non-live, recombinant subunit vaccine for the prevention of shingles (herpes zoster). According to GSK, its vaccine business benefited from Shingrix’s “strong demand recovery.†The firm claims it…

April 29, 2022

Genezen fast tracks second phase expansion in US

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Genezen’s aggressive approach has not been aggressive enough says firm as a second phase expansion begins earlier than expected at its lentiviral vector plant.   Gene therapy contract development manufacturing organization (CDMO) Genezen Laboratories has completed construction of a 75,000+ square-foot lentiviral vector production facility in Indianapolis, US and says the next phase of the expansion is underway. The firm said it had allocated space for future expansions but did not expect to be initiating the next phase of the…

April 28, 2022

NorthX Biologics inks vaccine partnership with Abera

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NorthX has signed a partnership agreement to upscale and manufacture Abera Biosciences’ vaccine candidate against pneumococcus, Ab-01.12.   Abera is a vaccine and platform development company, which was founded in 2012 as a spinout from Swedish production firm Xbrane Bioscience. Its lead vaccine candidate Ab-01.12 is administered as a nasal spray and aims to treat pneumococcus using technology designed to protect against all variants of the bacterium. Abera is preparing the vaccine candidate for clinical trials in humans and has…

April 27, 2022

Catalent pays Erytech $44.5m for NJ cell therapy plant

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Catalent has paid Erytech $44.5 million for its 30,900 square-foot facility in New Jersey and will continue to support its lead candidate. Less than a week after the contract development manufacturing organization (CDMO) confirmed a $350 million expansion at its Bloomington, Indiana site, Catalent has acquired a commercial-scale cell therapy manufacturing facility in Princeton, New Jersey from Erytech Pharma for $44.5 million. The facility is located within the University Square Campus Park and has 16 suites that can be used…

April 26, 2022