Deal-Making Archives - Page 49 of 59 - BioProcess InternationalBioProcess International

Hitachi brings cell therapy biz to Europe through $86m apceth buy

Hitachi Chemical will add two production plants and 600m2 of cleanroom through the acquisition of German cell therapy manufacturing firm apceth Biopharma. The deal, expected to close in April, sees Japanese firm Hitachi acquire all shares of apceth for JPY 9.4 billion ($86 million) from Santo Holding GmbH, FCP Biotech Holding GmbH and other individual shareholders. apceth has around 120 employees operating from its site in Munich, Germany. The site includes two GMP/BSL2 cell and gene therapy production facilities, including…

Life after Lonza: Sartorius looks to build inhouse culture media biz

by Dan Stanton

After a six-year partnership with CDMO Lonza ended, Sartorius Stedim Biotech says it is looking to build its own cell culture media business. In November 2018, bioprocessing vendor Sartorius and contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Lonza ended a supply and distribution partnership forged in December 2012 for media and buffers used in the manufacture of protein-based therapeutics and vaccines. Under terms of the deal, Lonza manufactured the media and Sartorius had the exclusive sales and marketing rights. Customers of…

Anatomical Pathology sale ups Thermo Fisher’s M&A war chest, analyst

by Dan Stanton

Thermo Fisher Scientific will divest its anatomical pathology business for $1.1 billion to PHC Holdings. The sale leaves Thermo Fisher in a competitive M&A position among bioprocessing peers, says an analyst. The business unit, part of Thermo Fisher’s Specialty Diagnostics Segment, includes microscope slides, instruments and consumables and will be taken over by Japan’s PHC Holdings Corporation – formerly Panasonic Healthcare Holdings – if the deal goes through in the second quarter of 2019. The unit generates about $85 million…

Lonza begins second gen production of Portola’s Andexxa

by Dan Stanton

Commercial production by CDMO Lonza follows the recent US FDA nod for Portola’s Prior Approval Supplement (PAS) for recombinant factor Xa product Andexxa. FDA approval of Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.’s Prior Approval Supplement (PAS) for second-generation Andexxa follows collaboration with Lonza Pharma & Biotech to develop the manufacturing process The production of this second-generation Andexxa [coagulation factor Xa (recombinant), inactivated] has now begun, with Swiss contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Lonza supplying the recombinant coagulation factor from its Porriño, Spain…

GE and G-CON extend prefab partnership for gene therapies

by Dan Stanton

GE Healthcare will equip G-CON’s prefabricated cleanrooms with its cell therapy and viral vector technologies in the latest expansion of its partnership. The collaboration aims to incorporate GE Healthcare’s cell therapy and viral vector technologies and process design within G-CON’s prefabricated flexible cleanrooms (known as ‘PODs’) in efforts to speed up and offer flexibility to customers’ advanced therapy projects. “This collaboration is unique because it provides our customers with an entire cleanroom infrastructure from a single source and will improve…

COGS factor in Amgen’s exit from $540m Advaxis deal

by Dan Stanton

Advaxis says Amgen’s withdrawal from a 2016 personalized immuno-oncology partnership is due to portfolio rationalization, high cost of goods, and the high-risk of commercialization. In 2016, Amgen teamed up with New Jersey-based Advaxis to co-develop and commercialize Advaxis’ investigational cancer immunotherapy ADXS-NEO in a deal worth up to $540 million (€475 million). But after paying out $78 million, Amgen sent written notice last month alerting Advaxis it is terminating the partnership, effective from February 8, said Advexis in an SEC…

Lilly’s speedy $8bn Loxo buy ‘not competitive,’ says analyst

by Dan Stanton

It took Eli Lilly 18 days from expressing its interest in Loxo Oncology to executing an $8 billion merger agreement. Being a “significant premium over the market price” and with no other bidders, the deal’s competitiveness has been questioned. Earlier this month, Eli Lilly announced it had agreed to buy Loxo Oncology for $235 (€206) per share in cash, totaling around $8 billion. The deal increases Lilly’s oncology portfolio, including lead candidate LOXO-292, an oral RET inhibitor being studied across…

Boehringer expanding China CDMO plant

by BPI Staff

Boehringer Ingelheim has begun an expansion at its biomanufacturing facility in Shanghai as it looks to tap the “great potential in China.” The expansion at the site in Shanghai covers an additional bioreactor and will include the necessary utility and infrastructure to support GMP operations of two 2,000 L single use bioreactor manufacturing lines. When asked, the Germany-headquartered firm did not divulge further details on the specifics of the investment. Boehringer Ingelheim spent more than €70 million in the first-phase…

Sanofi licensing deal validates Ab platform, says Biomunex

by Dan Stanton

Sanofi has licensed the plug-and-play BiXAb platform to generate multi-specific antibodies. The deal validates the technology and will help fund Biomunex’s internal pipeline, says CEO Pierre-Emmanuel Gerard. Under terms of the deal, Biomunex will receive an initial upfront payment from fellow French firm Sanofi, and will be eligible to receive future milestone payments. Specific figures have not been disclosed. This is the first licensing deal for Biomunex’s BiXAb bi- and multi-specific antibody generation and optimization technology, and according to CEO…

Phage of consent: AmpliPhi and C3J agree to merge

by Dan Stanton

AmpliPhi Biosciences will combine with C3J Therapeutics to create what it says will be a leader in targeted bacteriophage therapeutics. The combined NYSE American-listed company will boast a broad clinical-stage pipeline, including a Phase I/II-ready natural phage candidate targeting bacteremia, and a synthetic phage candidate targeting respiratory infections expected to enter Phase I later this year. In a conference call discussing the planned merger, Paul Grint, CEO of San Diego, California-based AmpliPhi Biosciences, said the joint entity will be “a…