Evonik and Stanford will begin a three-year research collaboration to develop a polymer-based drug delivery system for mRNA therapeutics. German contract development manufacturing organization (CDMO) Evonik will license and commercialize Stanford University’s polymer-based drug delivery system, which enables broader use of messenger RNA (mRNA). The CDMO work will take place at Evonik’s facilities in Vancouver, Canada and Birmingham, USA. “The platform is called CART (Charge Altering Releasable Transporters),” vice president of R&D, Innovation for Evonik Stefan Randl told BioProcess Insider.…

GSK has the leading portfolio of antibodies targeting immune-oncology therapies as it agrees to co-develop and commercialize EOS-448 with iTeos. British firm GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has agreed to an upfront payment of $625 million to iTeos Therapeutics. However, the deal could be worth $1.45 billion with potential milestones and royalty payments dependent on the success of EOS-448. EOS-448 is an anti-T cell immunoreceptor with Ig and ITIM domains (TIGIT) monoclonal antibody (mAb), which is currently in Phase I development as a…

Astrea has named Terry Pizzie as chief executive officer. Meanwhile, new officers join BIO’s governing board. Sit back, relax, and enjoy BioProcess Insider’s Ins & outs. Kick starting this week’s Ins & Out’s is Astrea Bioseparations (operating company of Gamma Biosciences), which has appointed Terry Pizzie to succeed Steve Burton as CEO. “Steve has been a key leader at Astrea Bioseparations since its early days as a spin out from the University of Cambridge and will continue as such in his new role…

GenScript ProBio will promote and advertise Calidi Biotherapeutics’ allogeneic cell technology platform SNV-1 to current and future clients. Under the terms of the agreement, Calidi will train and equip the Genscript sales team to present its SuperNova-1 (SNV-1) technology to their current customers. According to the firm, it recognizes the problems that surround oncolytic viruses as the immune system of the patient attacks and eliminates a large amount of the oncolytic virus from the body. “In many cases, 95%+ of…

CureVac has named Klaus Edvardsen as its chief development officer. Meanwhile, there are changes at Gamida Cell and AavantiBio. Sit back, relax, and enjoy BioProcess Insider’s Ins & outs. Up first in this week’s Ins & Out’s we have mRNA firm CureVac, which has appointed Edvardsen as chief development officer effective from August 1, 2021. “We are very pleased that Klaus is joining us in highly dynamic times for the company,” said Franz-Werner Haas, CEO of CureVac. “He brings a wealth of…

GSK, Cytiva, and Lonza are among 20 companies looking to develop technologies aimed at lowering the cost of cell and gene therapy production. Over 20 companies have been brought together by the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult (CGT Catapult) to assess multiple process analytical technologies (PAT), which are new or frequently used in other sectors. This is the first consortium of this scale with the 20 companies consisting of technology providers, therapy developers, charities, and pharmaceutical firms. The consortium has…