Friday, July 12, 2019 Daily Archives

Cannabis culture: Cronos buys 102,000 L microbial plant from Apotex

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The facility in Winnipeg, Canada will be used to produce cell cultured cannabinoids through its collaboration with Ginkgo Bioworks, says Cronos Group. Cannabinoid company Cronos Group has agreed to buy Apotex Fermentation Inc’s 84,000 square-foot biomanufacturing factory in Winnipeg for an undisclosed fee. If the deal closes – expected in Q3 – it will bring Cronos a facility with a combined production capacity of 102,000L, three downstream processing plants, and bulk product and packaging capabilities. The site will support manufacturing…

July 12, 2019

IDT Biologika wins 10-year US gov pentavalent vaccine deal

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IDT Biologika will manufacture five E. coli Master Cell Banks from its Maryland site to support a pentavalent vaccine for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the US government’s NIH, awarded a 10-year indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) task order contract to vaccine and drugmaker IDT Biologika. The task order will support a pentavalent vaccine by manufacturing five Master Cell Banks from IDT’s Rockville, Maryland plant, based on the…

July 12, 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