Upstream & Downstream Processing

With third bio-train complete, Catalent eyes fourth and fifth in Wisconsin

CDMO Catalent is considering adding two more manufacturing trains at its Madison facility due to anticipated demand for sub-5,000 L biomanufacturing. For Catalent’s fourth quarter FY2018, sales from its Biologics and Specialty Drug Delivery business stood at US$196 million (€168 million), twice that of the same period last year. The contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) attributed much of this increase to the acquisition of Cook Pharmica and the addition of a biomanufacturing facility in Bloomington, Indiana. However, management told…

Sartorius opening life sciences launchpad to grow German talent and innovation

Bioprocessing vendor Sartorius has launched a Life Science Factory in Göttingen, Germany offering labs, co-working spaces and consulting services for life science entrepreneurs. Life Science Factory, an independent non-profit division of Sartorius, aims to set-up a launch pad for life science startups in Germany. According to spokesperson Timo Lindemann, the project will begin next year with more than 500m2 for co-working, experiments and events, available for rent by entrepreneurs, before being transferred to a new 3,000m2 nearby facility in 2021.…

AGC Bio adding 12,000L of ‘competitive and flexible’ capacity in Denmark

The CDMO will add six 2,000 L single-use bioreactors in Copenhagen and says such a configuration can be competitive compared with an equivalent scale stainless-steel run. A single-use bioreactor 6Pack suite, consisting of six 2,000 L bioreactors and a 2000 L seed train, is to be installed at AGC Biologics’ biomanufacturing plant in Copenhagen, Denmark. According to AGC’s chief business officer Robert Broeze, the ‘6pak’ set-up – consisting of the six bioreactors configurated to run consecutively to produce a total…

Bioreactors from Ireland to China: ABEC gains second license

ABEC has received approval to supply bioprocessing equipment to China from its facility in Kells, Ireland. Bioreactor and bioproduction equipment vendor ABEC has been supplying the Chinese market for the best part of a decade, after its Springfield, Missouri facility obtained a China Manufacture License (CML) in 2010. Now the firm can supply its tech from a second facility, the Kells plant in County Meath, Ireland, after the government granted the plant a China Manufacture License (CML) to manufacture pressure…

Freedom of innovation: GE opens $17m Swedish biotech testing center

For around $6,600 per week, firms will have access to bioprocessing laboratories and equipment to test their biotech innovations. “The innovative and entrepreneurial environment also provides important input to the GE culture,†says GE Healthcare. A €10 million ($11.6 million) investment by the Swedish government coupled with €4.5 million from life sciences vendor GE Healthcare has led to the opening of an innovation testing center at the latter’s site in Uppsala, Sweden. Named the Testa Center, the facility allows access…

WuXi Biologics launches bispecific antibody tech

WuXi Biologics says it can expedite the development of bispecific antibodies by up to 18 months compared to current offerings through its new ‘WuXiBody’ platform. The Chinese contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) WuXi Biologics announced the additional service offering during its 2018 interim results and said its proprietary tech can potentially transform the bispecific industry. “We can take any two sequences of the MAbs [monoclonal antibodies] and engineer into WuXiBody bispecific in two to three months. The resulting bispecifics…

Oxford Genetics: CRISPR patent war casts shadow over use in cell line development

CRISPR engineered mammalian cell lines are more cost effective than other gene editing platforms says Oxford Genetics, but adopting such tech is perceived a risk due to ongoing patent issues. Oxford, UK-based synthetic biology firm Oxford Genetics has inked a multi-billion-dollar deal with an undisclosed ecommerce provider of reagents and tools for its high throughput automated genomic engineering platform for CRISPR modification of mammalian cell lines. While details are undisclosed, the deal shows how the firm has harnessed the gene-editing…

YMC M&A: Lewa addition brings bioprocess tech and US market

Japanese separations resins firm YMC will buy the bioprocessing business of Lewa-Nikkiso America. The “friendly acquisition†includes a facility in Devens, Massachusetts. Privately-held Kyoto, Tokyo-based YMC will add a number of bioprocessing technologies through the acquisition, including staff and assets dedicated to the development, manufacture and sales of batch and continuous chromatography equipment, and buffer dilution systems for the biopharmaceutical market. Financial details have not been divulged. Gerard Gach, chief marketing officer at Lewa- Nikkiso America, told BioProcess Insider Lewa’s…

MilliporeSigma partners Innocore for sustained release tech

MilliporeSigma will offer customers access to a sustained release formulation platform for large molecule APIs through a partnership with Innocore. The bioprocessing equipment and tools subsidiary of Germany’s Merck KGaA, MilliporeSigma, has inked an agreement to be the partner for the introduction of Innocure’s SynBiosys biodegradable platform to the global biopharma market. The platform can be used to develop sustained release solutions for biologicals in injectable formulations, something MilliporeSigma said is becoming increasingly important and competitively tempting for biopharmaceutical developers.…

Anti-antibody anybody? Bio-Rad range to target Lucentis biosimilar developers

Bio-Rad has launched a range of anti-ranibizumab antibodies for PK and immunogenicity assays on the back of increased Lucentis biosimilar development. Bio-Rad Laboratories will offer customers a range of recombinant monoclonal anti-ranibizumab antibodies that are highly specific for Lucentis (ranibizumab), or the complex of ranibizumab with its target, vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A). The anti-antibodies are to be used in pharmacokinetic (PK) and immunogenicity assays, and the product launch is due to the increased interest in Lucentis biosimilar development,…