Tuesday, June 27, 2023 Daily Archives

eBook: Intensified BioProcesses — Uniting Productivity and Sustainability

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Biopharmaceutical companies gradually are exploring options for process intensification (PI) and continuous manufacturing. Such strategies are known to increase process economics and decrease equipment footprints, both of which help to reduce cost of goods, capital expenditure, and operational costs. But as this eBook shows, most companies have yet to consider another critical driver for adopting intensified bioprocesses: sustainability. Recent studies into the environmental impacts of monoclonal antibody (MAb) production processes have underscored the water intensity of biomanufacturing. In this eBook,…

June 27, 2023

Bionova offering speedy cell line dev ahead of biotech recovery

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Industry is suffering from a dearth of early-stage funding but low-cost cell line development will allow biotech to hit the ground running when the market recovers, says Bionova. Biotech funding has hit a low point. The record-highs of the bull market seen through the late 2010s and early 2020s has stopped short, while interest rates are high “and the once-hot biotech IPO market has crashed,” a recent market snapshot from CRO ICON state. “The quick-flowing funds that were in the…

June 27, 2023

Vertex turns to Lonza for diabetes cell therapy plant

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Lonza will build a dedicated facility at its site in New Hampshire to support Vertex’s pipeline of cell therapies targeting type 1 diabetes. Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Lonza will collaborate to build the 130,000 square-foot manufacturing facility at the contract development and manufacturing organization’s (CDMO’s) site in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, creating up to 300 jobs. Construction begins this year. The dedicated facility will support Vertex’s type 1 diabetes candidates, including VX-880, fresh from producing positive results in an ongoing Phase I/II…

June 27, 2023

Curia signs cell line deal with MilliporeSigma

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Curia will gain access to MilliporeSigma’s CHOZN cell line technology to manufacture therapeutic proteins and antibodies. Contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Curia, formerly known as AMRI, has signed a licensing agreement with MilliporeSigma – the life sciences division of Germany’s Merck KGaA.  Under the terms of the deal, Curia and its customers will have access to the CHOZN GS cell line, and it has already been implemented into the CDMO’s cell line development workflow.   The CHOZN platform is a Chinese Hamster…

June 27, 2023

WestGene raises $42m in mRNA focused Series A funding

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WestGene Biopharma, a two-year old mRNA company, completed a $42 million funding round to advance its portfolio of tumor treatment vaccines in China and global trials. The Chengdu, China-based company has started trials of its EBV-positive tumor mRNA therapeutic vaccine (EBV-mRNA) and liver cancer mRNA therapeutic vaccine (HBV-mRNA). WestGene was also singled out for its disruptive technology in a China competition. In addition, the company’s novel adjuvant was adopted for an XBB Covid-19 vaccine, which is now approved. Earlier this…

June 27, 2023