Deal-Making

Challenging the vaccine space: The problem with pioneers

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With GSK, Merck, Pfizer, and Sanofi dominating the vaccine space, “the only thing pioneers get are arrows in their back,†say a group of industry experts. At BioProcess International Europe in Vienna, Austria in April, Bioprocess Insider hosted a vaccine-focused roundtable. The panel brought together some of the world’s leading luminaries within the space to discuss some of the major challenges within the vaccine industry, from technology challenges to the online army of anti-vaxxers. The group also spoke about the…

August 1, 2019

Danaher: ‘All indications show GE is in wonderful shape’

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Danaher Corporation says customers are excited about the combination of Pall Biotech and GE Biopharma as it moves closer to completing the $21.4 billion acquisition. In February, Danaher announced it had reached an agreement to acquire the biopharma division of GE Healthcare for $21.4 billion (€19.1 billion). Danaher first entered the bioprocess space through its $13.8 billion acquisition of Pall Corporation in 2015. This acquisition will, therefore, make Danaher the largest vendor with a fully end-to-end bioprocessing offering. The deal is…

July 31, 2019

Big Pharma M&A a boon for business, says Thermo Fisher

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Thermo Fisher says it is well positioned to benefit from recent M&A activity within the biopharma space: Takeda and Shire, BMS and Celgene, AbbVie and Amgen. So far, 2019 has been a big year for Big Pharma megamergers. Takeda completed its $62 billion (€56 billion) takeover of Shire in January, Bristol-Myers Squibb is moving closer to joining with Celgene in a $74 billion deal, and last month AbbVie entered an agreement to buy Allergan for $63 billion. The biopharma space…

July 30, 2019

VGXI to supply plasmid for Geneos’ cancer DNA vaccines

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Plasmid manufacturer VGXI has entered a long-term supply agreement to support development of Geneos Therapeutics’ personalized cancer vaccines. “DNA vaccines are unique from typical vaccines in that they contain no protein components,†Christy Franco, senior manager of BD at VGXI, told this publication. “A synthetic, circular DNA encodes for portions of the patient’s tumor that have been identified as immunogenic. After delivery, the DNA vaccine expresses those protein segments which trigger your body’s immune system to identify, track down, and…

July 23, 2019

Pall to provide ‘A-Z of single-use tech’ in Servier deal

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Servier has selected Pall Corporation as its exclusive technology and services provider at its biomanufacturing facility in Gidy, France. The facility, located about 50 km south of Paris, forms part of Servier’s oncology drug development and production network, Bio-S. This unit will be used for the manufacture of recombinant proteins and monoclonal antibodies, using equipment and processes supplied and supported by Pall Biotech. “Pall will assist Servier with technical support for the scale up of the process to enable Servier…

July 19, 2019

Boehringer to buy cancer vaccine firm AMAL for €325m

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The acquisition will be the latest boost for Boehringer Ingelheim in the immune cell-directed therapy space, adding a fusion protein platform and a colorectal cancer vaccine candidate. AMAL’s lead candidate is ATP128, a vaccine in development for stage IV colorectal cancer. The candidate, set to enter the clinic this month, is based on AMAL Therapeutic’s KISIMA technology platform, which brings together three components into a fusion protein used as a vaccine. These are a cell-penetrating peptide for antigen delivery, a…

July 16, 2019

Rights of Passage: Paragon building dedicated gene therapy suite

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CDMO Catalent’s unit Paragon will construct a dedicated manufacturing suite in Maryland to service Passage Bio’s clinical and commercial gene therapies using fixed-bed bioreactor technology. Paragon Bioservices – renamed Paragon Gene Therapy following its $1.2 billion (€1.1 billion) acquisition by contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) – has been selected by Philadelphia-based Passage Bio to manufacture its AAV-delivered gene therapies for monogenic central nervous system diseases. As such, the CDMO will build a dedicated suite in Harmans, Maryland, near Baltimore…

July 12, 2019

Instrumental deal: Agilent to bolster cell analysis biz with BioTek buy

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Agilent Technologies’ $1.165 billion acquisition of cell analysis firm BioTek Instruments will bring increased exposure to biopharma end markets, according to an analyst. Life sciences technology and services firm Agilent has agreed to pay $1.165 billion (€1 billion) for BioTek Instruments, adding numerous cell analysis tools to its portfolio. These include cell imaging systems, microplate readers, washers, dispensers, automated incubators and stackers, all used in the analysis and quantification of biomolecules and cell therapies. “[BioTek] positions Agilent well in the…

July 12, 2019

Investment digest: News from Pfizer, Bayer and Altimmune

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Pfizer has completed its $340 million Theracon buy, Bayer pumps $250 million into allogeneic stem cell venture, and Altimmune set to buy NASH drug developer. Welcome to Bioprocess Insider’s investment round-up. First up, Pfizer has added Therachon Holding AG to its business, bringing it assets in development for the treatment of achondroplasia and short bowel syndrome (SBS). The deal, announced in May, saw Pfizer shell out $340 million (€300 million) upfront for the Swiss biotech but the Big Biopharma could…

July 10, 2019

M&A hungry BioLife to buy cold-chain services firm SAVSU

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Having gradually increased its stake in the cloud-based cold-chain management firm, BioLife Solutions will buy the remaining 56% of shares to bolster its cell and gene therapy offering. Supplier of cell and gene therapy tools BioLife has been experiencing huge growth over the past few quarters (51% increase year-on-year for its Q1 2019, for example) due to the high demand for bio-preservation media and automated thawing products. The firm has been looking to take advantage of the continued demand from…

July 9, 2019