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GE Healthcare Spin-Off: “A Major M&A Chip Off the Table”

GE will separate its Healthcare division over the next two to three years in efforts to reduce debt. The news may disappoint acquisition-hungry life science rivals Thermo Fisher and Danahar, say analysts. John Flannery, chairman and CEO of General Electric (GE) announced today plans to separate GE Healthcare, along with industrial services firm BHGE, in efforts to “unlock both a pure-play healthcare company and a tier-one oil and gas servicing and equipment player.” The industrial conglomerate GE has struggled over…

Pfenex: Bacterial System Overcomes Protein Challenges, Inhouse and Out

by Dan Stanton

“The more you engineer a protein, the less natural it becomes,” says Pfenex executive Patrick Lucy. The firm is using its clinically validated microbial expression platform to overcome these challenges for both its own product pipeline and its partners. In May, Pfenex announced positive Phase III data showing its lead candidate PF708 is comparable with Eli Lilly’s osteoporosis drug Forteo (teriparatide). The candidate – classed as a biosimilar in Europe but being filed in the US as a therapeutic equivalent…

BioSymphony No. 1: Oncobiologics Wins First CDMO Deal

by BPI Staff

Sonnet BioTherapeutics has contracted Oncobiologics to develop and manufacture four undisclosed biologic compounds. The Master Services Agreement (MSA) with Sonnet BioTherapeutics is the first to leverage Oncobiologics’ BioSymphony Platform, consisting of in-house monoclonal antibody (mAb) development and manufacturing capabilities. Lawrence Kenyon, Oncobiologics’ CFO, told BioProcess Insider the platform is used in a small biotech company setting, which results in a “more efficient and timely process for bringing mAbs forward.” He continued: “Our goal, and the purpose of the platform, is…

Sanofi: ‘Ablynx Nanobody Tech Will Fuel Innovation’

by Dan Stanton

Sanofi has completed the acquisition of Ablynx and says it will use the ‘small antibody’ tech platform to drive innovation across a range of therapeutic areas. After rebuffing offers from Novo Nordisk, Belgian biotech Ablynx agreed to an acquisition bid of €3.9 billion (US$4.5 billion) from Sanofi in January. This week, the French pharma giant closed the deal and spoke about its integration plans. “Sanofi and Ablynx have already initiated efforts to better understand the company’s respective areas of expertise…

Sanofi Inks $850m mRNA Vaccines Deal with Translate Bio

by Dan Stanton

Sanofi Pasteur has teamed with Translate Bio to develop messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines for up to five infectious disease pathogens. Under terms of the deal, French vaccine developer Sanofi Pasteur will make an upfront sum of US$45 million (€38 million) to Massachusetts-based firm Translate Bio but total payments could reach $850 million on the back of developmental milestones and royalties. The R&D for the undisclosed vaccine targets will be jointly conducted during an initial three-year period. mRNA vaccines work by…

Automated Tech Ups Hitachi’s Cell Therapy Interest

by BPI Staff

Recent entrant to the regenerative medicine space Hitachi Chemical has partnered with Invetech to commercialize the Counter-Flow Centrifugation system – an automated platform for cell therapy manufacturing. The partnership will allow customers of Hitachi Chemical Advanced Therapeutics Solutions (HCATS) to access Invetech’s Counter-Flow Centrifugation (CFC) system in the clinical and commercial manufacturing of cell-based therapies using closed single-use disposables. Hitachi entered the regenerative medicine space in 2017 through the $US75 million (€64 million) acquisition of cell therapy contract development and…

Longstanding Bio Partner Celltrion Launches Full CDMO Unit

by Dan Stanton

The Korean firm, which boasts Teva and Pfizer as partners, has consolidated its third-party services to offer a full CDMO platform. Celltrion announced at BIO in Boston last week it is launching a “Bio CDMO” (contract development and manufacturing) business. According to the South Korean biologics maker, the service consolidates its current third-party offerings, combining cell line development and production process, with clinical and commercial biomanufacturing. Spokesperson Gunhyuk Lee told BioProcess Insider: “You could consider this CDMO business as a…

Media Control: Fujifilm Buys Irvine Scientific for $800m

by Dan Stanton

The acquisition of cell culture media firm Irvine Scientific complements Fujifilm’s bioprocessing business and helps ensure supply chain control, the company told us at BIO. Fujifilm Corporation has completed the acquisition of Irvine Scientific (ISUS) and IS Japan (ISJ) for US$800 million (€680 million) from fellow Japanese-headquartered firm JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy Corporation. The deal, first announced in March, brings Fujifilm an increased presence in the life sciences service industry, adding a range of media for industrial cell culture,…

Changing Regulations and ‘Sea Turtles’ Drive China Biotech Boom

by Dan Stanton

Backed by US$260 million, Brii BioSciences is the latest firm benefiting from regulatory and economic changes in China. Insider spoke with expert David Deere to discover why the Chinese market is finally opening up. Funded by a group of six venture capitalists firms, Brii Bio is the latest, and one of the largest, examples of the surge of investment and innovation in Chinese biotech. “Brii Bio aims to accelerate the development and delivery of breakthrough medicines in China through partnerships,…

TxCell Opts for Lonza to Make CAR-Treg Clinical Batches

by BPI Staff

Lacking the resources to manufacture in-house, French biotech firm TxCell has chosen Lonza to produce its HLA-A2 CAR-Treg cellular product, TX200. In February, TxCell finalized its manufacturing process to make Tx200, and began transferring tech to its contract manufacturing organization (CMO). Now the French biotech has revealed the CMO is Lonza, which will manufacture clinical batches of the CAR-Treg product from its production site in Geleen, the Netherlands. TxCell CEO Stephane Boissel told Bioprocess Insider Lonza will produce Phase I/II…