Friday, June 29, 2018 Daily Archives

Entegris: ‘Flex Acquisition Helps Supply Chain Security’

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Entegris has acquired Flex Concepts, adding upstream tech to its bioprocessing equipment offering. The deal – financial details of which have not been divulged – will see Entegris add bioprocessing single-use bags and fluid transfer solutions to its life sciences offering. “Flex Concepts manufactures quick turn custom configured products primarily for the biopharmaceutical industry. They sell products to some of the top pharma and biopharma companies,†Eric Isberg, director of Life Sciences for Entegris, told BioProcess Insider. “Flex had primarily…

June 29, 2018

Biogen Upping Stake in Biosimilars JV

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Biogen has agreed to pay around US$700 million (€602 million) to increase its stake in biosimilars joint venture Samsung Bioepis from 5.4% to 49.9%. Samsung Bioepis was formed in 2012 as a joint venture between Samsung BioLogics and Biogen to develop biosimilar drugs. Under terms of the deal, Biogen had the option to increase its single-digit involvement to 49.9% by mid-2018, something the firm announced it would be doing Thursday. “We are very pleased with the progress made to date…

June 29, 2018

Industry Looks to ‘Lucrative’ Opportunities for Off-the-Shelf Cell Therapies

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Allogeneic cell therapies have greater commercial potential than autologous products, an industry survey finds. Respondents also believe there are a lack of third-party capabilities to make these new therapies. When Novartis’s Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel) received the regulatory thumbs up in August 2017, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb described regenerative medicines as being “no longer the stuff of science fiction.†The approval of Gilead/Kite’s Yescarta (axicabtagene ciloleucel) weeks later helped cement the safety and commercial potential of CAR-T…

June 29, 2018