Upstream & Downstream Processing Archives - Page 27 of 38 - BioProcess InternationalBioProcess International

Lonza adds to cell line arsenal with piggyBac from Transposagen

CDMO Lonza will use the non-viral, gene delivery piggyBac system to improve the titer of difficult-to-express proteins after acquiring the IP rights from Transposagen. The deal brings contract development and manufacturing organization Lonza the transposon-based technology. The platform uses an engineered hyperactive piggyBac transposase enzyme to insert expression vector cargos into the host cell genome and preferentially targets stable regions of the genome associated with highly expressed genes. “We acquired the IP rights to the piggyBac technology for bioprocessing,” Sarah…

Three-way consortium aims to optimize biologics development

by BPI Staff

Valitacell, Solentim and Microcoat have teamed up to advance in-line productivity assays to speed up biologics’ development with a €3.5 million grant. In February, Irish biotech Valitacell partnered with biomanufacturing instruments firm Solentim to transform current workflows using a streamlined, automated platform to drive the earlier identification and accelerate development of biologic candidates. The consortium will bring together Valitacell’s ValitaPIX technology with Solentim’s instrumentation to create a system enabling the automation of data-driven analysis and selection of top clones during…

Manufacturing is the differentiator for CAR-T success, says Allogene

by Dan Stanton

Allogene has tweaked the manufacturing process for its allogeneic CAR-T candidate ALLO-501 to produce more robust and consistent product. Since raising $324 million (€283 million) in an initial public offering (IPO) last October, Allogene Therapeutics has announced plans to build a 118,000 square foot cell therapy manufacturing facility in Newark, California and reported its first fourth quarter financials. In the call discussing the latter, the firm’s CEO David Chang told stakeholders that success for chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies…

Shanghai center aims to accelerate cell and gene therapy development

by BPI Staff

The ATLATL-MACS Center will support biotech firms in the burgeoning cell and gene therapy space and will include access to Miltenyi automated CAR-T preparation instruments. Having spent a year under construction, ATLATL-MACS Center opened this week. The center is a collaboration between ATLATL Innovation Cluster (AIC) – a Chinese innovation support firm offering lab space as a service – and cell and gene therapy vendor Miltenyi Biotec aimed at supporting the growing research in innovative and personalized medicines. ATLATL and…

Access to smart money a key life science growth driver, Dynamk

by Dan Stanton

Bioprocess executives moving to the financial sector shows a strong desire for continued investment in the life sciences space, says Daniella Kranjac from VC firm Dynamk. Reinhard Vogt joined venture capital (VC) firm Dynamk Capital as a new general partner and managing director earlier this year, following an illustrious career in bioprocessing. Bioprocess Insider recently spoke with Vogt about major investment opportunities, but in this follow-up Q&A, Daniella Kranjac, co-founder and managing partner at Dynamk, explains how his expertise strengthens…

Data transfer connection with Amgen part of ‘digital transformation journey’ for GE

by Dan Stanton

A data transfer connection between GE Healthcare’s raw material manufacturing sites and Amgen’s process development center in Massachusetts will be installed to help improve product efficiencies, performance, and quality. He said GE Healthcare and Amgen mutually decided to come together to form this collaboration, – financials of which have not been divulged. According to Olivier Loeillot, general manager for Bioprocess at GE Healthcare Life Sciences, it will allow GE Healthcare to “digitally track and monitor raw materials in real-time on…

We are in the ‘golden age for the CDMO space,’ says Thermo Fisher

by Dan Stanton

With over 75% of new molecules coming from small and emerging biotech, opportunities for third-party manufacturers have never been so large says Thermo Fisher CEO Marc Casper. Thermo Fisher jumped into the third-party biomanufacturing space in August 2017 through its acquisition of contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Patheon for around $7.2 billion (€6.4 billion). The firm has also had capabilities in the CDMO since the early 2000s through its clinical trials’ service offerings. Speaking at the 2019 Barclays Global Healthcare Conference,…

Pall teams with Broadley-James on single-use pH sensors

by Dan Stanton

Pall Corporation has struck a deal to integrate Broadley-James’ single-use probe and flow cell pH sensors in its disposable bioprocessing offerings. The deal means Broadley-James’ single-use probe and flow cell pH sensors will be made exclusively available through Pall Biotech’s upstream and downstream single-use technologies. The single-use pH sensors use glass electrochemical technology, meeting international standards, and are designed to include a calibrated buffer storage environment to overcome constraints during pre-integration of glass pH sensors into consumables. The two firms…

Batch to the future: Amid single-use and 100 g/L, stainless steel will continue to shine

by Dan Stanton

Titers are up and single-use is widespread, but commercial drugmakers will continue to use stainless steel bioreactors for unmet medical needs, GE’s Parrish Galliher told BPI West delegates. Industry convened in Santa Clara, California, for BPI West this week to hear the latest bioprocessing developments and share manufacturing strategies. While much of the attention focused on productivity improvement and disruptive technologies, Parrish Galliher, CTO of Upstream at GE Healthcare Life Sciences and founder of Xcellerex, told delegates not to lose…

Sartorius Novasep team on membrane chromatography

by BPI Staff

Sartorius Stedim Biotech will combine its single-use technology with Novasep’s continuous chromatography BioSC platform to develop a membrane chromatography system. The deal sees the two vendors team up to aid biomanufacturing intensification by developing new technologies in the downstream based on membrane chromatography. “The systems expertise and established BioSC platform at Novasep, and the single-use expertise and technology coming from SSB [Sartorius Stedim Biotech] will both be key factors in the success of this collaboration,” Kathryn Schnorf, head of Product…