Novartis has invested €20 million ($23.8m) to service the CureVac deal and says up to 100 jobs will be created at its Kundl site in Austria.  Last week, Novartis became the latest firm to partner with CureVac to help manufacture its COVID-19 candidate, CVnCoV, at Novartis’ site in Kundl, Austria. The firm plans to manufacture up to 50 million doses by the end of 2021 and, potentially, a further 200 million doses by 2022. A spokesperson for Novartis told…
“We really like the ADC space,†says Exelixis as it licenses a panel of monoclonal antibodies from WuXi Biologics. Californian pharma firm Exelixis has paid what it describes as a “modest†upfront payment to Chinese drugmaker WuXi Biologics for the exclusive license of a panel of monoclonal antibodies to a preclinically validated target for the development of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), bispecifics, and other biologic applications. “Our agreement with WuXi Bio enhances our growing biotherapeutics portfolio by providing an approach to…
Novartis is the latest firm to partner with CureVac and plans to help make up to 250 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, CVnCoV by 2022.  The Swiss firm is set to support manufacturing of CVnCoV, an mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate, which is currently in Phase II studies and expected to merge into a Phase III efficacy trial. The manufacturing is anticipated to start in Q2, 2021 at Novartis’ site in Kundl, Austria. The firm is aiming to produce…
Amgen says it will leverage its biologics process development and manufacturing proficiency to bring Five Prime Therapeutics’ gastric cancer antibody bemarituzumab to market. The deal announced yesterday and expected to go through before July sees Amgen bag South San Francisco-based biotech Five Prime Therapeutics for about $1.9 billion in cash. Five Prime’s lead candidate is bemarituzumab, a monoclonal antibody designed to block tumor growth in patients with tumors that overexpress FGFR2b. The company is studying the drug in partnership with…
WuXi AppTec acquires its first facility in Europe as part of deal that adds manufacturing systems and contract researching tools. As part of the acquisition, Oxgene will become a subsidiary of WuXi Advanced Therapies (WuXi ATU), which is WuXi AppTec’s cell and gene therapy contract testing, development and manufacturing organization. Oxgene, which will retain its name, is a contract research and development organization based in Oxford, UK, that provides cell and gene therapy discovery and biomanufacturing platforms. The company offers…
Merck & Co. has partnered with J&J to help manufacture its single-shot COVID-19 vaccine which recently received approval from the FDA. After discontinuing its own COVID vaccine development at the start of this year, Merck & Co. (known as MSD outside of North America) has formed a partnership with Johnson & Johnson (J&J) to use its facilities to manufacture the vaccine and provide a fill-finish service. “Two of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world who are usually competitors are…
The addition of a plant in Liverpool, UK, from AbbVie will support ambitions in the biologics and cell and gene therapy space, says service firm Pharmaron. Chinese pharma services firm Pharmaron Beijing Co is set to pay $118.7 million in cash to AbbVie for its Allergan Biologics Limited (ABL) business, located in Liverpool, UK. AbbVie acquired ABL as part of its $63 billion acquisition of Allergan in 2019. The proposed sale – expected to go through in the second quarter…
CDMO Catalent has refuted claims that US rollout of the recently approved J&J vaccine has been slowed down by problems at its fill-finish facilities. Shortly after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot  vaccine making it the third authorized COVID vaccine  in the US, the Financial Times reported that Catalent is suffering production problems that “have contributed to the US government being set to receive millions fewer doses than it expected this month.†The British…
South Korean firm Alteogen has partnered with CDMO MilliporeSigma to develop and produce biotherapeutics and monoclonal antibody drugs. The collaboration will see MilliporeSigma (the life sciences business of Germany’s Merck KGaA) provide Alteogen with late-stage manufacturing services which includes developing and producing recombinant biologics for clinical evaluation. “This agreement supports large-volume subcutaneous administration of biologics that would otherwise be administered as an IV infusion,†said head of Process Solutions at Merck, Andrew Bulpin. “This advances Merck’s strategy of providing breakthrough,…
The FDA has approved J&J’s single dose COVID-19 vaccine (Ad26.COV2.S) paving the way for distribution in the US. Last week, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) adenovirus type 26 COVID-19 vaccine with Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) making it the third vaccine available to US citizens. “After a thorough analysis of the data, the FDA’s scientists and physicians have determined that the vaccine meets the FDA’s expectations for safety and effectiveness appropriate for the authorization…