Author Archives: Millie Nelson

Regeneron forks out $250m to buy Checkmate Pharmaceuticals

by

Regeneron will increase its research efforts in immuno-oncology through the all-cash acquisition of Checkmate Pharmaceuticals. Under the terms of the deal, Regeneron will buy Checkmate at an all-cash price of $10.50 per share of its common stock, which places the proposed acquisition at a total equity value of around $250 million. Checkmate is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical firm focused on developing technology to treat cancer. Its lead investigational candidate is an advanced generation CpG-A oligodeoxynucleotide Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) delivered in…

April 25, 2022

Catalent confirms $350m Bloomington expansion

by

Catalent has announced a multi-year $350 million investment at its plant in Bloomington, Indiana after months of speculation. In February, various publications, including B Square Bulletin, reported that contract development manufacturing organization (CDMO) Catalent is looking to spend $350 million at its Bloomington, Indiana facility with the City of Bloomington supposedly offering the firm millions of dollars in tax breaks. The city council is said to have unanimously voted in favour of the tax breaks two months ago, but a further vote…

April 22, 2022

Thermo Fisher opens $44m single-use Utah plant

by

Thermo Fisher says its manufacturing site in Ogden, Utah increases production of single-use bioprocess containers, which are crucial to developing vaccines and therapies. According to Thermo Fisher Scientific, the opening of its 55,000 square-foot single-use technology (SUT) facility in Ogden is part of a long-term $650 million investment the firm announced last March. Thermo claims that the plant provides additional capacity to produce various technology and materials needed for the development of emerging vaccines and breakthrough therapies. The facility will manufacture…

April 22, 2022

AGC’s big CDMO ambitions

by

AGC is aiming to make $1.5 billion in sales by 2025 and says it will continue to actively invest in facilities around the world to bolster its CDMO presence. Contract development manufacturing organization (CDMO) AGC says its groups’ life science business forms part of its strategic initiative to aim for sales in the 200-billion-yen ($1.5 billion) range by 2025. “We aim to be the first provider that customer call on when they are looking for a CDMO in various fields…

April 21, 2022

Ilya aims to strengthen supply chain with Nordic Bioanalysis buy

by

Ilya Pharma has acquired its long-term partner Nordic Bioanalysis, which it says will help them support the Advanced Therapy Medicinal Product (ATMP) space. The deal, of which no financial details have been disclosed, sees clinical stage immunotherapy firm Ilya Pharma acquire Nordic Bioanalysis (NBAB), which develops pharmaceuticals and biologics, including antibodies and ATMPs. “NBAB mainly provide bioanalytical services for pharmaceuticals and medical devices. The advantages to Ilya Pharma are to de-risk our supply chain for CMC and clinical bioanalytics, the de-risking…

April 21, 2022

Gilead’s Kite receives US FDA ok for Maryland CAR-T plant

by

The 20-acre site in Frederick, Maryland will produce CAR-T therapy Yescarta and increase its network capacity by 50%, says Kite. In 2018, Gilead Sciences, fresh from its $11.9 billion acquisition of Kite Pharma, announced plans to expand its manufacturing network with a 275,000 square foot facility in Frederick County, Marland to produce chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies. Now, the firm has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to manufacture CAR-T cell therapy Yescarta (axicabtagene ciloleucel), which was…

April 20, 2022

Asahi Kasei enters CDMO biz with Bionova buy

by

Through the acquisition of Bionova Scientific, the US arm of Asahi Kasei Medical will add a full-service biologics CDMO to its arsenal. US-based Bionova, which fully transitioned into a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) in November 2021 with the opening of its $25 million Fremont, California facility says the acquisition adds a “strategic complementary addition†to Asahi Kasei’s bioprocess consumables, equipment, and biosafety testing services business. “We are extremely excited to become a part of Asahi Kasei. This represents…

April 20, 2022

Aurion Biotech secures $120m to advance cell therapy candidate

by

The funding will be used to develop Aurion Biotech’s first candidate, AURN001, a cell therapy aiming to treat corneal edema. Aurion Biotech is a clinical-stage biotech firm that is aiming to “restore vision to millions of patients†with its regenerative therapies. According to the firm, the raised funds will be used to file an IND to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in order to begin clinical trials. Additionally, Aurion wants to submit an NDA to the Japan Pharmaceuticals…

April 13, 2022

VectorBuilder shells out $500m for China viral vector plant

by

VectorBuilder is constructing a $500 million gene delivery and research campus in Guangzhou, China to expand its capabilities and production capacity. Contract development manufacturing organization (CDMO) VectorBuilder, provides gene delivery solutions says it will take four years to build what it has named the “Gene Delivery Research and Manufacturing Campus.†According to the firm, the campus will include 30 production suites designed to manufacture lentivirus, plasmids, messenger RNA (mRNA), adeno-associated virus (AAV), cell lines and other types of viral and…

April 13, 2022

Moderna recalls another lot of COVID-19 vax

by

Moderna has recalled one lot of its COVID-19 vaccine, Spikevax, after a foreign body was found in a vial produced by CDMO Rovi.   Moderna and Spanish contract development manufacturing organization (CDMO) Laboratorios Farmacéuticos Rovi jointly announced that they have recalled lot #000190A of Spikevax in Europe, which consisted of 764,900 doses. The firms were made aware of the issue through a product complaint from a vaccination center based in Malaga, Spain. The dose in question was returned for forensic…

April 11, 2022