Novartis has paid $40 million for a 9% stake in Cellular Biomedicine Group (CBMG), a Shanghai-based firm which will manufacture CAR-T cell therapy Kymriah for the China market. Under terms of the deal, CBMG will take responsibility for the manufacture of the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel) from its facility in Shanghai, China, on behalf of Novartis entity Beijing Novartis Pharma for supply in China. “Aligned with our global supply and regulatory strategy, Novartis actively has been…

Celltrion says an additional 50,000 L of bioreactor capacity will come online next year. Meanwhile, the Korean drugmaker is “undecided” on the location of a third biomanufacturing facility. A capacity expansion at Celltrion is close to completion, doubling the size of the firm’s first facility at its site in Songdo, Incheon, South Korea. “Celltrion is currently wrapping up steps to add 50,000 liters of expanded capacity to its first plant based in Incheon,” spokesperson Heewon Park told BioProcess Insider. Presently,…

Bavarian Nordic has supplied volumes of its smallpox vaccine for personnel involved in the treatment of two UK patients diagnosed with monkeypox. At the time of going to press, two patients have been diagnosed with the potentially fatal but rare disease monkeypox in the United Kingdom. Both are believed to have contracted the disease in Nigeria, where there has recently been a monkeypox outbreak. While there is no specific treatment or vaccine for the viral zoonotic disease, Public Health England…