Author Archives: Millie Nelson

Ins & Outs: CureVac exec shake up following low COVID-19 vaccine efficacy

After reporting low efficacy results for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, CureVac has appointed a new chief operating officer and made other changes in leadership. Sit back, relax, and enjoy BioProcess Insider’s Ins & Outs. CureVac entered the COVID-19 vaccine race in March 2020 when the German biotech received $88 million from the European Commission to expedite construction of a plant set to make a potential mRNA vaccine against coronavirus. In August 2020 with $213 million in IPO cash to fund the human…

CGT Catapult expands into Scotland

GCT Catapult will construct offices and laboratories in Edinburgh, Scotland to support the cell and gene therapy sector and drive product development. The Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult (CGT Catapult) aims to give additional regional support to the cell and gene therapy industry across the UK, which will drive product development, adoption, and clinical trials. CGT Catapult Edinburgh is a partnership with the University of Edinburgh and will be placed at the Institute for Regeneration and Repair located at Edinburgh…

Quantoom and eTheRNA to build RNA production system

Quantoom and eTheRNA have partnered to build RNA technology, which aims to produce affordable RNA-based therapies for distribution in 2023.   Under the terms of the agreement, eTheRNA will provide Quantoom Biosciences, a Univercells company, with all required material and data for the development of an RNA production system (RPS) in Belgium. The system aims to reduce cost through optimized processes and automation. Once the RPS is developed, Quantoom will be responsible for its global commercialization and both firms expect…

Horizon acquires Irish facility for $65m

Horizon says it is the right time to add inhouse manufacturing capabilities as it acquires a facility from EirGen Pharma. Horizon Therapeutics will pay OPKO health’s EirGen Pharma $65 million for the 44,000 square-foot drug product manufacturing facility located in Waterford, Ireland. The facility includes a filling line, lyophiliser or freeze dryer, which can be used for the firm’s commercial medicines such as Tepezza (teprotumumab-trbw), Krystexxa and Uplizna (inebilizumab-cdon) plus other drugs in its pipeline. The successful launch of Tepezza,…

Genezen breaks ground on lentiviral vector facility

CDMO Genezen will build a lentiviral vector manufacturing facility to support clients and early-stage clinical trials. Gene therapy contract development manufacturing organization (CDMO) Genezen Laboratories will construct a 75,000+ square-foot lentiviral vector production facility in Indianapolis, US. The investment contributes to Genezen’s lentiviral and retroviral vector production, which enables the CDMO to support current and future clients to supply early phase clinical trials. “Lentiviral vectors are the leading platform for in-vitro gene therapy, representing over 35% of the clinical trial market and it…

Catalent bolsters CGT biz with RheinCell Therapeutics buy

The acquisition of RheinCell Therapeutics will position Catalent as a partner of choice across the iPSC value chain, says the CDMO. The deal, financial details of which have not been divulged, sees contract development manufacturing organization (CDMO) Catalent buy developer and manufacturer of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) RheinCell Therapeutics. The deal is expected to close before the end of this year and will enable Catalent to offer the foundations to scale iPSC-based therapies. iPSCs cells can be separated into…

AbCellera responds to future pandemic threat with $190m+ Canadian facility

AbCellera will build a manufacturing facility in Vancouver, Canada to prepare for future pandemics and advance their own clinical pipeline. The 130,000 square-foot Vancouver facility will produce therapeutic antibodies making it the first of its kind in Canada. The facility will not be used to support any COVID-19 related products. However, in-country manufacturing of antibodies is “important for Canada because it fills a major gap in our ability as a nation to respond to future pandemics,†Murray McCutcheon, vice president,…

Inceptor Bio creates consortium to take on cancer

Inceptor Bio will collaborate with companies and academic institutions to develop multiple cell and gene therapy platforms to cure cancers. Inceptor Bio is creating the consortium to focus on specific technologies aimed at creating cures for various types of cancer. However, Inceptor did not disclose who the specific scientists, companies, and academic institutions they are working with are, but the project will be by its Advanced Manufacturing Platform (AMP+). The AMP+ cell and gene manufacturing site is being built at…

Lonza bags three deals in one week

Lonza will develop an immunotherapeutic drug candidate for SelectImmune, an antibody for ValenzaBio and extends its collaboration with Pinteon. All in a week’s work for the Swiss CDMO. SelectImmune Pharma has collaborated with Swiss contract development manufacturing organization (CDMO) Lonza to develop processes for a novel immunotherapy protein drug (NIpD). “SelectImmune is developing NlpD, an anti-infectious and anti-inflammatory protein that is released by beneficial bacteria in our gut,†Yvette Stallwood, head of Applied Protein Services at Lonza told us. “This…

AM-Pharma expands KBI partnership for kidney disease candidate

The agreement will advance AM-Pharma’s recAP program towards commercialization with KBI providing drug substance manufacturing and regulatory support. AM-Pharma’s recombinant human Alkaline Phosphatase (recAP) program is a potential treatment for Sepsis-Associated Acute Kidney Injury (SA-AKI). Acute kidney disease affects hundreds of thousands of people globally and currently has no authorized pharmacological treatments. Both firms partnered in 2011 to develop the program, which saw contract development manufacturing organization (CDMO) KBI Biopharma provide initial process development and manufacturing for early clinical use.…