Author Archives: BPI Staff

KBI boosts analytical services with Belgium expansion

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The laboratories in Belgium will help international biopharma firms consolidate their outsourced analytical work to meet EU regulations, says KBI Biopharma. Contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) KBI Biopharma has opened laboratories in Leven, Belgium offering analytical development, formulation development, biopharmaceutical characterization and cGMP quality control testing. According to CEO Tim Kelly, the lab expansion was first announced in 2015, when the CDMO was acquired by JSR Corporation. “JSR’s decision to expand its A3 production capacity in Leuven created an…

September 4, 2018

Sartorius opening life sciences launchpad to grow German talent and innovation

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Bioprocessing vendor Sartorius has launched a Life Science Factory in Göttingen, Germany offering labs, co-working spaces and consulting services for life science entrepreneurs. Life Science Factory, an independent non-profit division of Sartorius, aims to set-up a launch pad for life science startups in Germany. According to spokesperson Timo Lindemann, the project will begin next year with more than 500m2 for co-working, experiments and events, available for rent by entrepreneurs, before being transferred to a new 3,000m2 nearby facility in 2021.…

August 31, 2018

BioProcess Insider BPI Theater @ BIO 2018 Interviews – Tuesday

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BioProcess Insider brings the news as it breaks. At the BPI Theater @BIO, editor Dan Stanton conducted a series of interviews live on stage to report on the latest movements in the biomanufacturing industry to start each busy day of dealmaking in Boston. Below we summarize his DAY ONE conversations with a number of biopharmaceutical executives on Tuesday 5 June 2018. You can watch the full interviews online at www.bioprocessintl.com/BIO-Theater-2018. Andy Topping, Chief Scientific Officer, Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies Gene therapies show…

August 24, 2018

Kyowa Hakko fermentation plant hit with FDA warning

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Kyowa Hakko has received a US FDA warning letter citing GMP and data integrity issues at its amino acid production facility in Yamaguchi, Japan. The warning letter dated August 10 2018 came following an inspection of Kyowa Hakko Bio’s Hofu facility in September 2017 by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Deviations from current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) for active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) cited by the Agency included failures in Kyowa Hakko’s quality unit, along with a lack of…

August 24, 2018

Therapeutic Modalities: Business and Manufacturing Strategies Influencing Decisions to Develop One Therapy Type Rather Than Another

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Moderator Patricia Seymour, with John Lee, Michael Kaufman, Jennifer Michaelson, and Weichang Zhou Following introductions of the panelists and their companies’ technologies, moderator Patricia Seymour began the discussion about challenges related to choosing different modalities and addressing related manufacturing concerns. Targeting Modalities Michaelson began by describing how Cullinan Oncology selects its targets and modalities, how it approaches those early phase decisions, and what its primary driver is to get into the clinic as quickly as possible. She talked about challenges…

August 23, 2018

Feeding the Demand for Cell and Gene Therapy Production

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Moderator Dan Stanton, with Ohad Karnieli, Alan Moore, and David Brindley Moderator Dan Stanton introduced the second roundtable of Tuesday morning by commenting on the recent spate of approvals for CAR-T cell and gene therapies. With large biopharmaceutical and biotechnology companies devoting scientists and funds toward these next-generation therapies, contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs) also are investing in opportunities to expand capacity and expertise. As the panelists introduced themselves, they raised two key points for discussion: The contracting model for advanced…

August 23, 2018

BioProcess Insider BPI Theater @ BIO 2018 – Wednesday Interviews

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BioProcess Insider brings the news as it breaks. At the BPI Theater @ BIO, editor Dan Stanton conducted a series of interviews live on stage to report on the latest movements in the biomanufacturing industry to start each busy day of dealmaking in Boston. Below we summarize and share the videos from his DAY TWO conversations with a number of biopharmaceutical executives on Wednesday 6 June 2018. Sean Sommer, Vice President of Advanced Facilities, Jacobs Jacobs offers a range of services…

August 23, 2018

Using New Technologies to Compress Timelines, Increase Capacity, and Reduce Costs: Speed — Why, When, and How

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Moderator Tom Ransohoff, with Jorg Thommes, Chris Love, Rajesh Beri, and Geoffrey Hodge For biopharmaceuticals to mature as a process industry, companies need to embrace the ability to adopt new technologies and bring new operational approaches to their biomanufacturing facilities. In this roundtable about adopting and implementing new technologies in the biologics industry, moderator Tom Ransohoff stressed the importance of understanding drivers for adopting new technologies and of developing enabling processes that factor in associated risks and challenges. He offered…

August 23, 2018

Mustang to make ‘bubble boy’ candidate from newly opened cell therapy plant

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A gene therapy for children with X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency (X-SCID) will be made at Mustang Bio’s facility in Massachusetts, which opened in June. Biotech firm Mustang Bio has partnered with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to develop a lentiviral gene therapy for the rare disease, commonly known as bubble boy disease, caused by a lack of immune cells necessary to fight off viruses, bacteria and fungi. As the therapy progresses through early-phase clinical trials, Mustang will begin to manufacture…

August 22, 2018

Capacity Strategies: The Strategies Behind Choosing Between Large-Scale and Single-Use Investments

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Moderator Dan Stanton, with Weichang Zhou, Jenifer Wheat, Roger Lias, and Jim Vogel Single-use technologies (SUTs) are now prevalent within bioprocessing, but does this spell the end of industry’s historic reliance on stainless steel and fixed facilities? This roundtable was formed to discuss the wealth of investment in single-use (SU) equipment and flexible manufacturing solutions by contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) over the past few years, pitting that against what looks like a resurgence in fixed-cost stainless steel plants…

August 21, 2018