Author Archives: Millie Nelson

Ins and outs: AGC to address CGT needs through CBO hire

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BioProcess Insider sat down figuratively with Jean-Baptiste Agnus, AGC Biologics’ chief business officer set to drive the contract development manufacturing organization (CDMOs) cell and gene therapy (CGT) business. Agnus joins AGC Biologics as chief business officer after three years with Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services where he was responsible for leading the firm’s global sales and marketing activities. Prior to this, he spent 13 years at Novasep, where he most recently held position of head of sales and business development North America.…

November 15, 2021

List forks out $125m+ for microbiome Indiana plant

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List Therapeutics will increase manufacturing capacity for live biotherapeutics products (LBPs) with its $125+ million investment in Indiana, US. List Therapeutics, whose parent company is South Korean firm Genome & Company, will invest in the city of Fishers, Indiana to build a 110,000 square-foot  outsourcing  facility. According to the firm, the facility will be commissioned by the end of 2023 and will be located at the Fishers Life Science and Innovation Park. The plant expands List’s offering of end-to-end manufacturing…

November 15, 2021

Masco Group bolsters engineering tech with KeyPlants buy

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Masco Group strengthens its engineering technologies for the life sciences sector by acquiring a majority stake in KeyPlants AB. The deal, of which no financial details have been disclosed, sees technological solutions provider Masco Group acquire Swedish firm Keyplants, which focuses on modular off-site construction for the life science industry. “This partnership will strengthen Masco Group by combining its leadership in clean utilities and process technologies with KeyPlants’ expertise and innovative energy in prefabricated, modular facility solutions,†a spokesperson for…

November 15, 2021

Pall hiring 300 to staff South Carolina plant

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Pall will hire 300 people to staff its single-use bioprocessing manufacturing facility in Duncan, South Carolina. Cytiva and Pall announced a $1.5 billion investment in July (in addition to Cytiva’s $500 million growth strategy that was announced in September 2020 and January) to expand manufacturing capacity for life sciences products at thirteen Danaher Corporation sites to meet customer demand. Part of this investment includes the construction of facilities in the US and the UK over the next two years. Now Pall is…

November 12, 2021

Lykan ups CGT capacity by 90% at MA facility

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Lykan Bioscience will expand its plant in Hopkinton, Massachusetts to support the growing demand for cell therapy development and production. Lykan Bioscience, a contract development manufacturing organization (CDMO) focused on cell-based therapies, will add seven cleanrooms with capabilities for autologous and allogenic production at its Hopkinton plant. “The demand in the cell therapy segment is robust, we brought the original 8 cGMP suites online in January of this year and we believe the original capacity will be fully allocated to…

November 11, 2021

CJ Cheiljedang diversifies biz with $226m Batavia buy

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CJ Cheiljedang has entered the biopharma CDMO space through the acquisition of Batavia Biosciences. The deal, which is worth $226 million, sees CJ Cheiljedang, a subsidiary of South Korea’s food and entertainment corporation CJ Group, acquire Netherlands-based contract development manufacturing organization (CDMO) Batavia Biosciences to drive its position in the biotechnology field. Batavia is a CDMO which specializes predominantly in viral vaccines and viral vector products. It also has capabilities for monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and recombinant protein development. “We identified…

November 10, 2021

Amgen starts building $365m DP Ohio plant

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Amgen has broken ground on its $365 million plant in New Albany, Ohio, which will support assembly and packaging for its medicines. Amgen announced its plans to build a 270,000 square-foot facility in New Albany in June, which would see the firm create approximately 400 jobs ranging from technicians, engineers, quality assurance, quality control, administrative and management positions. Now, the firm has started constructing the plant and says it expects the site to be fully operational by 2024. According to…

November 10, 2021

MilliporeSigma to support SaudiVax in developing first halal vaccine

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SaudiVax has selected Merck KGaA to help design a Saudi-based facility to localize manufacturing of vaccines and biologics in the region. SaudiVax is expected to become the first developer and manufacturer of halal biotherapeutics and vaccines in Saudi Arabia and has turned to German Merck’s contract development manufacturing (CDMO) services and single-use technologies – MilliporeSigma – to help design a multi-modality manufacturing plant. The plant will be located at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) campus, north…

November 9, 2021

Ins and outs: Avid create viral vector position to lead CGT expansion

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CDMO Avid Bioservices has appointed Elie Hanania as vice president, process development, viral vector technologies to lead the company’s efforts in the CGT space. Sit back, relax, and enjoy this week’s Ins and outs. Biologics contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Avid Bioservices turned to the production of viral vectors in October with plans to build a 53,000 square foot viral vector development and GMP manufacturing facility in Costa Mesa, California at a cost of around $75 million. Now, with…

November 8, 2021

Catalent shows willing to up spending in CGT space

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Catalent’s Q3 results revealed the demand for its CGT services means it is willing to increase its investments in the sector. Contract development manufacturing organization (CDMO) Catalent revealed plans in September 2020 to invest $130 million at its gene therapy campus in Harmans, Maryland to add five additional Phase III through to commercial-scale manufacturing suites. Last week, the firm said it would shell out a further $230 million at the same site to construct three additional multi-room commercial suites. While…

November 4, 2021