Merck & Co. has reached an agreement to acquire Tilos Therapeutics, a developer of monoclonal antibodies targeting the latent TGFβ complex. The deal will see biopharma firm Merck acquire private Massachusetts-based biotech Tilos Therapeutics for up to $773 million (€683 million), including an undisclosed upfront payment and milestones. Dean Li, senior vice president, discovery and translational medicine, Merck Research Laboratories, said in a statement the deal is evidence of the firm’s continued efforts to enhance its pipeline. “Tilos has developed…

Regenerative medicine firm has contracted the German Red Cross Blood Donor Service to expand production of its autologous bone marrow-based cell therapy REX-001. London, UK-headquartered firm Rexgenero’s lead product is REX-001 is in two Phase III trials both of which are in diabetes patients. The firm manufactures the autologous cell therapy from its production site in Seville, Spain, added through its incorporation of Spanish subsidiary Rexgenero Biosciences S.L in 2015. But to increase production and expedite clinical trials, the firm has…

Private equity firm Ampersand Capital Partners has bought CDMO Vibalogics and intends to expand its capabilities to service the demand for gene therapy services. The price of the German contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) has not been disclosed, but Ampersand’s acquisition will help widen Vibalogics’ global reach on the back of increased demand for viral vector and gene therapy services. “Vibalogics can now strengthen and expand the position in both of its home markets, the USA and Europe, as…

Contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) 3P Biopharmaceuticals will scale-up the manufacture of Affibody’s candidate ABY-035 for psoriasis. Swedish biopharma firm Affibody has been working with 3P since 2017 and has now secured the CDMO to transfer and scale-up the process developed prior to execution of the first GMP manufacturing batches for its candidate ABY-035. 3P will also carry out process characterization and validation ahead of commercial manufacture. “Currently the collaboration is based on GMP manufacturing for Ph II clinical…

Eight years after inking a deal to provide facilities services across 22 sites, Danish firm ISS says Novartis is unlikely to extend its contract beyond December. In August 2012, Swiss pharma firm Novartis inked a deal with Danish facilities services provider ISS to provide integrated facilities services at 22 sites, including numerous production plants. The deal included the fulfilment of services including catering, property, cleaning, support and security at five sites in Switzerland, eleven sites in Germany, two in Austria,…

Vaccitech has licensed the AGE1.CR duck retina cell line from ProBioGen to manufacture its viral vectored vaccines. The deal will see University of Oxford’s Jenner Institute spin-out Vaccitech gain access to ProBioGen’s technology platform based on the AGE1.CR duck retina cell line for production of its viral vectored universal flu vaccine. “We generated the AGE1.CR cell line from an embryonated Muscovy duck egg,” Ingo Jordan, director of Vaccine Strategies at ProBioGen told Bioprocess Insider. This, he explained, makes it well…

German services firm Evotec has jumped into the biologics development space through the acquisition of Just.Bio, a platform company working to reduce the cost of goods for proteins. Hamburg, Germany-based Evotec uses its expertise and technologies to help pharma firms discover and develop new small molecule therapies and names Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Celgene, CHDI, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Sanofi, Takeda, and UCB among its partners. Through the addition of Just.Bio for $90 million (€81 million) cash, Evotec has increased its…