Author Archives: Dan Stanton

Gilead: ‘Cell therapy is at the very early stages of its penetration’

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Gilead Sciences says the advent of cell therapies into second line treatments and increased competition in the space will help boost the “under-penetrated†market. Having entered the cell and gene therapy space in August 2017 through the $11.9 billion acquisition of Kite Pharma, Gilead Sciences has cemented itself as a pioneer in the sector through the commercialization cell therapies: Yescarta (axicabtagene ciloleucel), approved in the US in October 2017, and Tecartus (brexucabtagene autoleucel) approved in July 2020. According to Gilead’s CEO…

September 21, 2021

Biocon jumps into vaccines through $4.9bn Serum Institute pact

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The strategic alliance will see Biocon access a minimum of 100 million doses of vaccines per year from Serum Insititute’s facility in Pune, India. The two Indian biopharma giants announced Friday a strategic alliance to complement each other’s vaccine and biologics capabilities and manufacturing capacity. “This alliance will complement the strengths and resources of the two leading players in vaccines and biologics,†Biocon’s executive chair Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said. “Our shared vision of building large scale businesses having global impact makes…

September 20, 2021

Protein boost for Repligen through $150m Avitide buy

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The latest acquisition by Repligen will boost its proteins business, adding bespoke affinity purification ligand manufacturer Avitide. The deal sees bioprocess vendor Repligen Corporation shell out $75 million in cash and $75 million in stock for Lebanon, New Hampshire-headquartered firm Avitide. Avitide is a manufacturer of chromatography resins used in downstream bioproduction and its bespoke commercial offering will bolster Repligen’s own proteins business and its affinity ligand discovery service. Repligen’s legacy proteins business – which includes its Protein A chromatography…

September 17, 2021

Pfizer: Trial management and manufacturing key to DMD gene therapy success

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Pfizer has stressed the importance of having the right manufacturing capabilities as it looks to be first to market with its gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Orphan disease DMD is an X-linked disorder caused by mutations in the gene encoding dystrophin, which is needed for muscle membrane stability. The disease affects around 140,000 boys worldwide, 30,000 of which are in the US and Europe. Most of the current treatments do not address the underlying cause, but gene therapies…

September 16, 2021

Cytiva makes good on China single-use expansion

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Plans to triple single-use component production in China through a longstanding partnership with Wego Pharmaceutical are well underway, says Cytiva. Wego Pharmaceutical Co.’s Weihai, China facility makes single-use bioprocessing consumables on behalf of Cytiva after the two firms forged a partnership in November 2018. The site will expand its capacity through plans envisaged last September but announced last week. “Three new manufacturing lines were launched in under ten months with an additional eight new lines planned to launch in Q3…

September 16, 2021

Flash drive: French CDMO to scale up viral vector production

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Flash Therapeutics has secured a three-year funding deal to help further develop its LentiFlash viral vector tech and to double its manufacturing capacity. The Toulouse, France-based contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) has developed its own lentiviral platform, LentiFlash, for use as a delivery vector in vaccinations, regenerative medicine, and gene-editing applications. “LentiFlash technology leads to a transient expression mediated by RNA delivery as lentiviral-based therapies leads to stable expression mediated by DNA delivery,†a spokesman from the firm told…

September 14, 2021

Moderna contracts Resilience as it eyes 3 billion doses of COVID vax

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With continued rollout and boosters on the horizon, Moderna has added space at CDMO Resilience’s Ontario, Canada site to its mRNA COVID-19 vaccine production network. No financial details have been divulged, but the multi-year deal will see contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) National Resilience produce mRNA for the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at its facility in Mississauga, Ontario in Canada. Resilience added the 136,000 square-foot facility through the quiet acquisition of assets from Therapure Biopharma, and while Moderna told this publication it…

September 13, 2021

Eli Lilly and industry criticize Biden’s drug pricing plan

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Eli Lilly says the US Government’s latest pricing plan will restrict access of drugs to patients and restrict industry innovation. On Thursday, the US Department of Health and Human Services published a plan to address what it describes as prices for prescription drugs that are “higher than any comparable nation.†The report is based on three guiding principles for drug pricing reform: 1) To make drug prices more affordable and equitable for all consumers and throughout the health care system…

September 10, 2021

Thermo Fisher doubling single-use capacity through $100m Nashville plant

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Thermo Fisher will hire 1,400 staff at the facility in Nashville, Tennessee, which is expected to feed biomanufacturing’s continued demand for single-use technologies. Bioprocess vendor Thermo Fisher Scientific unveiled plans yesterday to bolster its manufacturing network for single-use technology (SUT) products through the construction of a facility in Wilson County, Tennessee. “The new site will be Thermo Fisher’s largest designated SUT manufacturing facility and will help more than double Thermo Fisher’s network manufacturing capacity to support its biopharma customers,†a…

September 9, 2021

Avantor upping its single-use game in $2.9bn Masterflex buy

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Avantor is set to acquire Masterflex, a manufacturer of peristaltic pumps and aseptic single-use fluid transfer tech used in upstream, downstream and fill-finish services. The deal, announced yesterday, “strengthens Avantor’s offering across all bioproduction platforms including monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), cell and gene therapy and mRNA, and supports both therapy and vaccine manufacturing including COVID-19,†the firm said in a statement. The $2.9 billion transaction ($2.7 billion after tax benefits) will add Vernon Hills, Illinois-headquartered tech firm Masterflex to the biopharma…

September 8, 2021