BioProcess Insider sat down figuratively with Jean-Baptiste Agnus, AGC Biologics’ chief business officer set to drive the contract development manufacturing organization (CDMOs) cell and gene therapy (CGT) business. Agnus joins AGC Biologics as chief business officer after three years with Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services where he was responsible for leading the firm’s global sales and marketing activities. Prior to this, he spent 13 years at Novasep, where he most recently held position of head of sales and business development North America.…

Masco Group strengthens its engineering technologies for the life sciences sector by acquiring a majority stake in KeyPlants AB. The deal, of which no financial details have been disclosed, sees technological solutions provider Masco Group acquire Swedish firm Keyplants, which focuses on modular off-site construction for the life science industry. “This partnership will strengthen Masco Group by combining its leadership in clean utilities and process technologies with KeyPlants’ expertise and innovative energy in prefabricated, modular facility solutions,” a spokesperson for…

CJ Cheiljedang has entered the biopharma CDMO space through the acquisition of Batavia Biosciences. The deal, which is worth $226 million, sees CJ Cheiljedang, a subsidiary of South Korea’s food and entertainment corporation CJ Group, acquire Netherlands-based contract development manufacturing organization (CDMO) Batavia Biosciences to drive its position in the biotechnology field. Batavia is a CDMO which specializes predominantly in viral vaccines and viral vector products. It also has capabilities for monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and recombinant protein development. “We identified…

SaudiVax has selected Merck KGaA to help design a Saudi-based facility to localize manufacturing of vaccines and biologics in the region. SaudiVax is expected to become the first developer and manufacturer of halal biotherapeutics and vaccines in Saudi Arabia and has turned to German Merck’s contract development manufacturing (CDMO) services and single-use technologies – MilliporeSigma – to help design a multi-modality manufacturing plant. The plant will be located at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) campus, north…

Lonza has acquired an exosome manufacturing facility in Lexington, Massachusetts from Codiak BioSciences, which will keep its pipeline of therapeutic candidates. “Exosomes are extracellular vesicles excreted by cells into the surrounding fluids with a diameter between 30 and 150 nanometers,” Senthil Ramaswamy, executive director of Cell and Gene Technologies R&D, Lonza told us. “They represent a form of cell-to-cell communication. Cells can exchange metabolites, genetic information, and proteins through exosomes. The membrane-bound structure of exosomes allows for loading with various…

Life Edit’s genome editing capabilities will be combined with ElevateBio’s cell and gene enabling technologies to expand the number of therapeutic uses. The deal, of which financial details have not been disclosed, sees cell and gene therapy (CGT) tech firm ElevateBio acquire all of AgBiome’s shares of Life Edit Therapeutics (Life Edit). According to ElevateBio, the acquisition will allow the firm to integrate Life Edit’s genome editing abilities with its induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), viral vector, and cellular engineering platforms.…

Ecolab adds service solutions to drive end-product safety and quality through the acquisition of Purolite, which it says doubles its existing high growth. Ecolab, a firm that specializes in water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions and services has entered into an agreement to buy Purolite, a separation tech company in a cash transaction valued at $3.7 billion. The transaction is expected to close in Q4 2021 and according to Ecolab, Purolite will operate as a separate global business unit but…