Thursday, July 23, 2020 Daily Archives

eBook: Expression Systems — Innovative Techniques for Conventional Cell Lines

by , , and

Although Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) and Escherichia coli cells have become the biopharmaceutical industry’s preferred platforms for producing recombinant proteins, perennial challenges have limited the capabilities of those expression systems. New CHO lines and improved upstream methods steadily are increasing expression titers, yet researchers continue to decry CHO’s relatively low growth rate. E. coli exhibits strong growth kinetics but cannot perform posttranslational modifications necessary for complex therapeutic proteins. Researchers need advanced technologies and analytical methods to overcome such limitations. This…

July 23, 2020

Forge Bio’s combo model for gene therapies attracts $40m in funding

by

Forge Biologics has something rare for most early-stage biotech startups: revenue from customers. Now it has $40 million to expand its model, which places contract manufacturing alongside the development of its own gene therapies, the most advanced of which is being readied for tests in humans. From operations in Columbus, Ohio, Forge makes gene therapies for other companies. The company was initially conceived solely as a contract manufacturer, CEO Tim Miller told Xconomy. The explosion of gene therapy research is…

July 23, 2020

Novartis offering COVID-19 capacity but won’t play in vaccine space

by

Novartis has no plans to join its Big Pharma peers in developing a coronavirus vaccine but says it will continue supporting efforts to tackle the virus. Developing a vaccine is deemed key in the global fight against the novel coronavirus. As such, industry has mobilized to speed development efforts through the clinic, with numerous Big Pharma firms jumping on board. AstraZeneca is racing away in bringing its Oxford vaccine to fruition. J&J is pushing forwards with its adenovector-based vaccine. Pfizer…

July 23, 2020

Valneva to supply vero-cell based COVID vaccine to UK

by

Valneva will supply up to 100 million doses of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate and is looking to expand capacity at facilities in Scotland and Sweden. Under the terms of the deal, French vaccine firm Valneva SE will manufacture up to 100 million doses of its candidate VLA2001 as part of a UK government strategy to secure COVID-19 vaccines. Doses will be supplied from Valneva’s production site for other commercially available travel vaccines and candidates in Livingston, Scotland. “Today’s agreement from the UK…

July 23, 2020