Facilities & Capacity Archives - Page 30 of 73 - BioProcess InternationalBioProcess International

MA center aims to speed up manufacturing for researchers, says Cytiva

A $76 million innovation and manufacturing center will alleviate production backlogs of up to 18 months, says founding member Cytiva. The Massachusetts Center for Advanced Biological Innovation and Manufacturing (CABIM) will partner with industry and academia to reduce backlogs which impact critical research and development. The $76 million in financing was led by Harvard University and supported by other founding members: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, Alexandria Real Estate Equities and Cytiva (formerly known as GE Healthcare…

Oxford vaccine fill-finish site threatened by severe floods

by Dan Stanton

Wockhardt is operating as normal to supply AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine after being hit by a storm at its Wrexham, Wales, fill-finish facility. Storm Christoph has caused – and continues to cause – severe damage across North Wales, and yesterday hit a facility producing the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine (AZD1222) run by Wockhardt UK. “Last night at approximately 1600 hours, Wockhardt UK experienced mild flooding, resulting in excess water surrounding part of the buildings across site,” the third-party manufacturer said in a statement.…

Cognate pushes on with global expansion project despite COVID

by Ben Hargreaves

Cognate plans to increase capacity in Europe four-fold and to double existing capacity at its US site. This time last year, Cognate Bioservices completed the acquisition of Cobra Biologics, adding its plasmid and viral vector manufacturing capabilities to its own cell therapy services. Cognate began this year with another announcement, it would be adding to its subsidiary’s manufacturing capacity through an investment in Europe, alongside bolstering its existing facilities in the US. The European expansion will see Cobra quadruple capacity…

Thermo Fisher adds EU viral vector plants in €725m Novasep deal

by Dan Stanton

Thermo Fisher adds three Belgian facilities to its gene therapy contract manufacturing business. The sale is the latest divestment by Novasep. Thermo Fisher paid approximately €725 million ($878 million) to acquire Novasep’s Henogen viral vector manufacturing business, a business that brought in around €80 million in revenues in 2020. The deal bolsters Thermo Fisher’s gene therapy capabilities, adding 7,000 square meters of manufacturing space tand 400 staff through three facilities at two locations in Seneffe and Gosselies, Belgium. Thermo Fisher…

Adverum: ‘Scarcity of AAV capacity drove inhouse investment’

by Millie Nelson

Adverum has invested $80 million into a North Carolina viral vector facility to support gene therapy candidate ADVM-022. The GMP adeno-associated virus (AAV) manufacturing facility will be in Durham, North Carolina. Once operational in 2023, the 174,000 square-foot facility will boast 4,000 L of bioreactor capacity and create 200 jobs. The inhouse facility will support large-scale production of Adverum’s ADVM-022, which is a potential gene therapy using “a single intravitreal injection targeting two mass markets – wet AMD and diabetic…

Moderna has the capacity but cannot guarantee the supply of COVID-19 vaccine

by Millie Nelson

Moderna says it has the capacity to deliver one billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine, mRNA-1273 but is concerned with raw material supply. Moderna has an approved vaccine for COVID-19 in the US, Europe and UK. Speaking at the 39th Annual JP Morgan virtual Healthcare Conference, CEO Stéphane Bancel highlighted how potential shortages of material could delay manufacture despite Moderna “structuring the company to deliver a billion doses” in a year. “I think sometimes people confuse capacity and supply” said Bancel,…

Merck to scale-up acquired COVID candidate to meet OWS goal

by Millie Nelson

Merck & Co. may look to repurpose some US facilities to support production of potential COVID-19 therapy MK-7110. In December 2020, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) struck a $356 million deal with Merck & Co (known as MSD outside North America) to support production of MK-7110, a recombinant protein in Phase III trials as a therapy to treat hospitalized patients with acute COVID-19. When announced, HHS said the Operation Warp Speed (OWS) collaboration was the latest…

Thermo Fisher reports $6bn+ COVID windfall in 2020

by Dan Stanton

Thermo Fisher says it supported over 250 coronavirus-related programs in 2020, generating “well over $6 billion” in COVID-19 response revenue. Speaking at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, held virtually for the first time in its nearly 40 year history, Thermo Fisher Scientific CEO Marc Casper described 2020 as the “best year yet” for his firm, representing an “extraordinary performance in the most challenging of times.” The multinational offers a broad spectrum of biopharma services, all of which saw a surge…

Fujifilm $2bn US expansion plan to triple global mammalian capacity

by Dan Stanton

Demand for large-scale biomanufacturing following an expansion in Denmark has driven a $2 billion investment to add a further 160,000 L of US bioreactor capacity, says Fujifilm. Through an investment of over 200 Billion Yen ($2 billion) from parent firm Fujifilm Corporation, Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies (FDB) aims to build and open a mammalian cell culture facility in the US in 2025. “In the US, this new investment will yield a 17x increase in mammalian cell culture tanks; our current capacity…

Fujifilm invests in third viral vector plant citing ‘surging’ demand

by Gareth Macdonald

Fujifilm says surge in demand for viral vectors prompted decision to invest in third development and production plant. Fujifilm announced plans to invest $40 million to set up the new plant in in Watertown, Massachusetts last week. The Japanese conglomerate’s contract services unit – Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies – will run the facility when it comes online. In a press statement the CDMO’s CEO Martin Meeson said, “We are strategically establishing this facility in the greater-Boston area where there is a…