COVID-19 and the growth of the cell and gene therapy sector have pushed the pharma industry to use new and emerging technologies to solve manufacturing challenges.   Speaking at the recent BPI West virtual conference, co-founder and CEO of Apprentice Angelo Stracquatanio said the coronavirus pandemic has forced companies across the pharma industry to adapt and operate differently, particularly altering how and what technologies it opts to use. With business “grossly disrupted,†he argued “the industry started to turn to new and emerging technologies to solve a lot of these key challenges that came up in…
Author Archives: Millie Nelson
Horseshoe crabs: COVID-19 further threat to ‘blue blood’ of industry
The industry relies on horseshoe crab blood for endotoxin testing. These marine arthropods are endangered but the race to manufacture COVID-19 vaccines in large volumes is placing them under further threat. Often referred to as ‘living fossils’, horseshoe crabs have inhabited the Earth for more than 450 million years. For drugmakers, it is the horseshoe crab’s blue blood that has remained a fascination and until recently a necessity . The chemicals in the crab’s blood can react to harmful bacteria…
Catalent: ‘Dedicated Moderna line frees space for our non-COVID customers’
Catalent has dedicated a high-speed vial filling line to Moderna at its site in Indiana, which it says will free up space for its non-COVID related customers. The high-speed vial filling line expands upon an agreement inked between the two firms last June, and provides Moderna with a dedicated fill-finish service through to June 2023. It will initially be used to manufacture Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine, approved by the US FDA under an emergency use authorization (EUA) last December, though there is potential for it to produce other clinical products in the firm’s pipeline. According to the…
CyanVac selects Exothera to make intranasal COVID-19 vaccine
CyanVac has partnered with CDMO Exothera to develop and manufacture its intranasal COVID-19 vaccine candidate CVXGA1 using the scale-X platform. Georgia, US-based vaccine developer, CyanVac has selected contract development manufacturing organization (CDMO) Exothera to advance development of a manufacturing process for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate that is administered intranasally as a single dose to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection. “We have been working on intranasal vaccines for over 20 years,†Biao He, CEO and founder of CyanVac told BioProcess Insider. “The viral vector…
Oxford BioMedica to supply viral vectors to Boehringer Ingelheim
Oxford BioMedica has signed a three-year contract to manufacture and supply viral vectors to support Boehringer Ingelheim’ s cell and gene therapy pipeline. Under the terms of the Development and Supply Agreement (DSA), Oxford BioMedica will manufacture batches for German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim. The agreement also enables Oxford BioMedica to produce and supply viral vector products in the future. The manufacturing will take place at Oxford BioMedica’s Windrush Court site, located in Oxford, UK as well as at one…
Oxford University to develop a vaccine that prevents gonorrhoea Â
CARB-X will donate up to $2 million to the Jenner Institute (part of the University of Oxford) to produce a vaccine that prevents gonorrhoea.  The researchers will work alongside the Oxford Vaccine Group with the aim to develop a vaccine that will create immunity against gonorrhoea and prevent individuals from developing the disease. Furthermore, it intends to stop the spread of antibiotic resistance that is found in gonococcal bacteria.  The gonorrhoea vaccine (dmGC_0817560) contains blebs (fluid-filled blisters) from the outer surface of gonococcus, which is the Native Outer Membrane…
Ins & outs: Endsulin boosts board with ex-AveXis execs
Diabetes gene therapy firm appoints two ex AveXis execs to its board. Meanwhile, there are high level changes at  Merck, AlloVir and Abeona Therapeutics. Sit back, relax, and enjoy reading BioProcess Insider’s Ins & Outs. Former founding chief science and chief finance officers at AveXis, Brian Kaspar and Thomas Dee will join Endsulin to help develop the firm’s gene therapy against Type 1 diabetes. Enduslin is a company that is solely targeting Type 1 diabetes (T1D) with a potential one-time…
GSK to support manufacturing of Novavax’ COVID-19 vaccine
GSK will manufacture up to 60 million doses of Novavax’ COVID-19 vaccine candidate, NVX-CoV2373 for distribution in the UK. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) will provide fill-finish services for Novavax’ COVID-19 vaccine at its Barnard Castle facility in Durham, UK. A rapid tech-transfer between the two firms will begin immediately, with manufacturing expected to begin as early as May 2021. GSK will prepare vials of the final vaccine in the last stage of manufacturing and package them for distribution and use, with both…
JSR launches biotech fund to advance its life science business
JSR has launched a corporate venture fund focusing on small and emerging biotech, bringing customers to its life sciences services portfolio. Â Initially, the fund will prioritise evolving life science companies that have the platforms, technologies and approaches to support life science research, manufacturing, development, and the ability to improve therapeutic outcomes. JSR Life Sciences is set to leverage the investment to fund several deals in the next few years in a bid to continue identifying and advancing therapies and…
Oravax launches to advance oral COVID-19 vaccines
Oramed Pharmaceuticals and Prema Biotech have formed Oravax Medical, a joint venture focused on developing oral COVID-19 vaccines. The joint venture company, Oravax, will use India-based Premas Biotech’s vaccine technology combined with Israel-based Oramed’s POD oral delivery technology. Oravax’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate is a virus like particle (VLP) that targets three structural proteins, which has the potential to provide protection against emerging variants of coronavirus. Furthermore, the oral administration of the vaccine may enable easier distribution and large-scale inoculation without…