Monday, June 7, 2021 Daily Archives

Cell Banking in the Spotlight: Advising Biologics Developers About Cell Bank Preparation and Characterization

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Living cells are at the heart of biotechnology, and cell lines for production and testing of biopharmaceuticals are highly valuable assets. The process of banking cells generally moves from development of a research cell bank (RCB) based on a clone of interest to establishment of a master cell bank (MCB), from which working cell banks (WCBs) can be produced. Especially for biotechnology startups, preparation of an MCB can involve a significant jump from work performed in standard laboratory conditions to…

June 7, 2021

Back to business? Demand for trials returning, says Icon

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Icon says demand is recovering with bookings for its own services as well as those of soon-to-be acquired PRA continuing to climb in the second quarter. The Dublin, Ireland headquartered contract research organization (CRO) saw bookings increased 27% in the first quarter, versus the first three months of 2020, with book-to-bill ratio – roughly the value of new contracts divided by revenue – of 1.28. And the momentum has continued, according to CFO Brendan Brennan who spoke at Jefferies’ Healthcare…

June 7, 2021

Sepragen skids to help Serum Institute ramp up vaccine production

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Sepragen has delivered two chromatography skids to the Serum Institute of India to help increase monthly production of COVID-19 vaccines from 40 million to 200 million doses. Bioprocess equipment manufacturer Sepragen Corporation recently shipped out two 125 liters/minute QuantaSep chromatography skids, with integrated inline buffer blending capabilities, to the Serum Institute, located in Pune, India. “These skids will allow the vaccine manufacturer to increase their production from 40 million doses per month to 200 million doses per month,†a Sepragen…

June 7, 2021

Samsung Biologics adding mRNA capabilities at Korean facility

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The CDMO will add mRNA manufacturing capabilities to its Songdo plant by the first half of 2022.   Through adding messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine drug substance production capability to its Songdo facility, Samsung Biologics will be able to provide end-to-end mRNA services.   The contract development manufacturing organization (CDMO) has not disclosed any financial details and a spokeswoman for Samsung Biologics told BioProcess Insider “It would be rather difficult for us to disclose the equipment, skills and financials as the technology’s very new and such information is directly related our competitiveness.â€Â Â  She continued: “What we can say on our hiring stance is that we continue…

June 7, 2021

Get your TOX off: Piramal looks to next generation of ADCs

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Non-cytotoxic payloads, immune-stimulating antibody conjugates, and peptide-delivery mechanisms all form part of the new drug-conjugate landscape, says Piramal Pharma Solutions. It has been over 20 years since the first antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) hit the market. However, the sector has only taken off over the past three years with six US FDA approvals tallying the total number of marketed ADCs to 11, the latest being ADC Therapeutics’ Zynlonta (loncastuximab tesirine). Download our ebook ‘ADCs – Evolving Links in the Biopharmaceutical Pipeline’…

June 7, 2021