Deal-Making Archives - Page 52 of 59 - BioProcess InternationalBioProcess International

Lonza and Sartorius rejig cell culture media deal

Lonza says cell culture media is no longer simply a consumable but a critical part of the biomanufacturing process as it modifies its supply deal with Sartorius. In December 2012, contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Lonza teamed up with bioprocessing equipment and consumables supplier Sartorius Stedim Biotech (SSB) for the supply and distribution of media and buffers used in the manufacture of protein-based therapeutics and vaccines. A shift in the arrangement now sees supply continue but under non-exclusive terms,…

BioLife eyes up M&A in ‘fragmented’ regenerative med supply space

by Dan Stanton

The cell and gene therapy tool supplier space is ripe for consolidation says BioLife Solutions, which is evaluating several acquisition targets. For the third quarter 2018, regenerative medicine consumables and tools firm BioLife reported sales of its biopreservation media product of $5.3 million (€4.7 million), up 79% year-on-year. With the firm also turning a profit of $1.2 million for the period, CEO Michael Rice spoke about the scaling-up opportunities to take advantage of the continued demand from the cell and…

Biogen pays $670m to (nearly) match Samsung BioLogics in share of Bioepis

by Dan Stanton

Biogen has upped its stake in Korean biologics and biosimilar developer Samsung BioLogics from 5.4% to 50%, minus one share. Samsung Bioepis was founded in 2012 and has since been one of a handful of drugmakers to see regulatory success with biosimilar products both in Europe and the US. A joint venture between Korean contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Samsung BioLogics and biopharma firm Biogen, the former has until now been the dominant stakeholder, holding 94.6% of the firm.…

Singapore swing: Lonza transfers Tracon Ab to single-use plant

by Dan Stanton

CDMO Lonza has produced the first 2,000 L batch of Tracon Pharmaceuticals’ antibody TRC105 from its Singapore facility after transferring production from the UK. Californian biopharma firm Tracon has been using Swiss contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Lonza for the manufacture of its lead candidate TRC105 (carotuximab) since the pre-clinical phase of development. The candidate is an antibody to endoglin – a protein overexpressed on proliferating endothelial cells that is essential for angiogenesis, the process of new blood vessel…

GSK selects Hitachi to make T-cell therapy

by BPI Staff

Hitachi Chemical Advanced Therapeutics Solutions (HCATS) will make clinical batches of GlaxoSmithKline’s T-cell receptor therapy targeting NY-ESO-1 from its New Jersey site. The three-year agreement will see HCATS manufacture clinical batches of GSK’s T-cell receptor therapy targeting New York esophageal squamous cell carcinoma 1 (NY-ESO-1). The SPEAR (Specific Peptide Enhanced Affinity Receptor) T‑cell therapy is one of a number of cancer immunotherapies being codeveloped between GSK and Oxford, UK-based Adaptimmune, in a collaboration inked in 2014. The clinical production of…

Q3 saw $1.5bn in biotech IPOs, and no slowdown in sight

by Dan Stanton

The biotech sector saw the largest capital investment over the past quarter and life sciences’ momentum has far from peaked, says accounting firm CohnReznick. In the past financial quarter, life sciences and biotech initial public offerings (IPOs) pulled in $1.5 billion (€1.3 billion) in capital investment. According to national professional services and accounting firm CohnReznick, the sector was the number one industry for IPOs, with 20 deals taking place in the quarter, representing 30-35% of all deals. “There has been…

High Octane: Lonza buys 80% of ‘game-changing’ cell therapy tech partner

by Dan Stanton

Lonza has acquired a controlling stake in its partner Octane Biotech and will incorporate the closed and automated Cocoon processing tech into its autologous cell therapy offering. Contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Lonza has collaborated with Octane Biotech for the past three years to develop the Cocoon manufacturing system. But this week, the Swiss CDMO purchased additional equity to hold a controlling stake of 80% in the firm, with an option for outright ownership. “Owning a controlling stake ensures…

Deal-making digest: IDT’s $80m US contract, WuXi’s strategic partership

by BPI Staff

The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded IDT Biologika a ten-year contract to make biologics and vaccines worth up to $80 million. IDT Biologika has been contracted by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) – an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services – to provide process development, manufacturing and characterization of vaccine and biologic products. The German drug and vaccine maker will receive…

Roche ups cell therapy interest through SQZ expansion deal

by Dan Stanton

Roche has expanded its partnership with SQZ Biotechnologies to codevelop therapeutics derived from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in a deal worth up to $1 billion. In 2015, Swiss Biopharma Roche partnered with SQZ to use its B cell engineering technology in the development of cell therapies for cancer. This week, the firm has expanded the partnership to jointly develop and commercialize products based on antigen presenting cells (APCs) created by the SQZ platform. “SQZ entered into a first collaboration…

MaSTherCell wins Iovance deal as commercial cell therapy demand increases

by BPI Staff

Cell therapy CDMO MaSTherCell will produce late-stage clinical supply of an adoptive cell therapy for Iovance Biotherapeutics from its facility in Belgium. Iovance has selected MaSTherCell S.A., a cellular therapy-focused contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) and subsidiary of Orgenesis, to manufacture an adoptive cell therapy using its tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) product as it goes into late-stage trials in Europe. The manufacturing will take place from MaSTherCell’s plant based in Belgium, which according to a spokesperson from the CDMO…