Innovation has realized the potential of advanced therapies, but bioprocess and manufacturing tech advancements are now needed to feed future demand, says AltruBio’s Judy Chou.  While the COVID-19 pandemic kept industry physically apart – making the meet in San Diego this week the first BPI West since 2019 – it brought the biotech space together, resulting in the rapid approval and rollout of the first two mRNA vaccines. Concurrently, the past few years have seen numerous cell and gene therapy successes,…

Nutcracker Therapeutics has raised $167 million in Series C financing to expand its mRNA pipeline and refine its RNA platform. Nutcracker focuses on developing RNA therapeutics using its biochip-based manufacturing platform. The firm claims the financing, led by ARCH Venture Partners, will enable the company to grow its pipeline of messenger RNA (mRNA) medicines for cancer and advance its platform technology. According to Nutcracker, producing RNA-based therapeutics with scalability and speed has remained a constant challenge in the industry. To…

The $97 million investment will expand Thermo Fisher’s bioanalytical laboratory operations into three locations in the Greater Richmond, Virginia region. According to Thermo Fisher Scientific, the decision to expand its clinical research business is in response to increased demand for its services. The investment will see the firm add nearly 150,000 square feet to its Richmond area operations. The laboratories in this location were gained through the firm’s acquisition of contract research organization (CRO) PPD last year. The company is…

The UK government has pledged £260 million to bolster healthcare research, £60 million of which will be used to expand manufacturing capabilities. At the beginning of this month, the UK government announced that £260 million ($339 million) will be invested into the life sciences industry. The £60 million ($78 million) dedicated to expanding manufacturing services will support cell and gene therapies, medical devices, and commercial scale production investments by various companies. The investment for manufacturing fundings will be distributed through…

UCB will construct a gene therapy and clinical manufacturing plant at its campus in Braine l’Alleud, Wallonia, Belgium. According to UCB, the evolution of the gene therapy space has altered how diseases are being treated but the production of viral vectors remains a consistent challenge because of the complex manufacturing process. Therefore, developing capabilities and flexible manufacturing is critical to succeeding in the gene therapy industry. To establish an end-to-end process, Belgium’s biggest drug maker has decided to invest more…

Cytiva is opening a facility in Cardiff, Wales to produce single-use bioprocessing technologies on the back of global demand. The 11,000 m² Cardiff facility is part of the $1.5 billion investment announced in July 2021 to expand manufacturing capacity for life sciences products at thirteen Danaher Corporation sites run by Cytiva and Pall to meet customer demand. Over two years, the company will invest £36 million ($47m) into the expansion at the Cardiff site, which has already begun to make flow…

Amgen hopes the Holly Springs facility will be operational by 2025, broadening the firm’s stainless steel and single-use drug substance capacity. The planned $550 million investment was made in August 2021, but this week Amgen broke ground on the 350,000 square-foot facility. When operational – expected 2025 – the North Carolina site will provide Amgen with ‘FleXBatch’ manufacturing, a combination of single-use technologies and stainless steel-fed batch production capabilities taking place in one plant. “For over four decades, Amgen has…

Moderna has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of the Republic of Kenya to establish Kenya as the location for its mRNA plant. Moderna announced the $500 million investment in October 2021 but did not disclose where the messenger RNA (mRNA) manufacturing facility would be built. Now, with the assistance of the US Government, the firm has entered into a MoU to confirm that the facility will be located in Kenya. The aim of the facility…