Therapeutic Class Archives - Page 42 of 53 - BioProcess InternationalBioProcess International

Phage of consent: AmpliPhi and C3J agree to merge

AmpliPhi Biosciences will combine with C3J Therapeutics to create what it says will be a leader in targeted bacteriophage therapeutics. The combined NYSE American-listed company will boast a broad clinical-stage pipeline, including a Phase I/II-ready natural phage candidate targeting bacteremia, and a synthetic phage candidate targeting respiratory infections expected to enter Phase I later this year. In a conference call discussing the planned merger, Paul Grint, CEO of San Diego, California-based AmpliPhi Biosciences, said the joint entity will be “a…

Allogene eyes cell therapy manufacturing plant in Bay area

by Dan Stanton

After raising $324 million last year, Allogene Therapeutics says it is planning to construct a cell therapy manufacturing facility near San Francisco, California. Allogene Therapeutics is focused on developing allogeneic, or off-the-shelf, T cell. In October 2018, the San Francisco-headquartered firm raised $324 million (€283 million) in an initial public offering (IPO). Since its launch, the cell therapy firm has been working with a contract manufacturing organization (CMO) but now Allogene has told BioProcess Insider that it plans to build…

Univercells to scale-up sub 30 cent polio vaccine platform

by BPI Staff

A Univercells-led consortium has received a grant extension to scale-up a manufacturing platform it claims can slash the cost of inactivated polio vaccines. In December 2016, a consortium led by Belgium biomanufacturing technology firm Univercells received a $12 million (€10.4 million) grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop a low-cost vaccine manufacturing platform. The consortium also involves Batavia Biosciences which has developed the polio manufacturing process and Natrix Separations (now owned by MilliporeSigma) for the purification membrane.…

Fujifilm pumps $111m into its US biologics and stem cell network

by Dan Stanton

Fujifilm Corporation will increase capacity at its North Carolina CDMO site to feed demand for mammalian and microbial manufacturing. The firm is also opening a $21m induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell plant in Wisconsin. Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies (FDB), a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) division of Japan’s Fujifilm Corporation, plans to invest JPY 10 billion ($90 million) into its site in Morrisville, North Carolina. “This expansion is driven by continued demand for our manufacturing capability given that our customer’s…

Teva two: FDA approves Celltrion-made Herceptin biosimilar

by BPI Staff

The US FDA has approved a second biosimilar of Roche’s breast cancer drug Herceptin (trastuzumab): Celltrion’s Herzuma, to be marketed by Teva. In 2016, Israeli firm Teva Pharmaceutical Industries expanded its biosimilar portfolio by teaming up with Korean drugmaker Celltrion. The $160 million (€141 million) deal gave Teva the US rights to versions of Roche’s Rituxan (rituximab) and Herceptin. The former received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval last month, and now the latter has been given the regulatory…

FDA paves way for insulin biosimilars, but will they be interchangeable?

by Dan Stanton

Sanofi will see its short-acting follow-on insulin Admelog be regulated as a biosimilar from 2020 under US FDA plans to promote competition. But the need for additional studies to show interchangeability could delay any impact, the firm says. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been actively pursuing efforts to increase adoption of biosimilar products over the past year. In July, the Agency published a ‘Biosimilars Action Plan’ aimed at promoting access to lower-cost biosimilar drugs while maintaining a desire…

MacroGenics clinical hold has no wider implications for bispecifics, say analysts

by BPI Staff

The US FDA has placed a partial clinical hold on MacroGenics’ CD3 bispecific candidate MGD009 following reports of hepatic adverse events. On December 6, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sent Maryland-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company MacroGenics a letter indicating that a partial clinical hold has been placed on its Phase I monotherapy study of MGD009 and a combination study of MGD009 and MGA012 (anti-PD-1). No new patients will be enrolled in either study until the partial hold is lifted…

PPD beefing up biologics lab services in Ireland

by Dan Stanton

Contract research organization (CRO) PPD will expand its biologics capabilities in Athlone, Ireland to include cell and gene therapy analytical testing. The 41,000 square foot Athlone facility will have a further 6,000 square feet of lab space added to it to feed the demand for biologics testing and to mirror expansions being made at PPD’s facility across the pond in Middleton, Wisconsin. “The Athlone facility enables us to partner closely with a wide variety of both European and global clients…

Gilead hopeful for allogeneic IND next year

by Dan Stanton

Gilead, which has already seen success with an autologous CAR-T therapy, says it hopes to submit an Investigational New Drug (IND) request for an off-the-shelf product in 2019. In August 2017, Gilead Sciences acquired Kite Pharma for $11.9 billion (€10.5 billion). Weeks later, the firm became only the second to receive US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy through the Kite-developed product Yescarta (axicabtagene ciloleucel). Yescarta is an autologous product, meaning it…

Belgian CDMO MaSTherCell doubles cell therapy capacity

by Dan Stanton

MaSTherCell will be able to manufacture about 1,000 batches a year through the expansion, helping to feed the high demand for cell therapy production. The contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) unveiled a 600 m2 wing at its site in Gosselies, Belgium, effectively doubling its cell therapy production capacity through five extra clean rooms. “Each clean room is about 30 m²,” Romain de Rauville, head of Business Development Europe at MaSTherCell, told this publication. “The capability depends on the process…