KBI extends pharma contract with a $250m purchasing commitment

JSR Life Sciences contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) KBI Biopharma announced an extended and expanded manufacturing contract with a leading global pharmaceutical company.

The parties agreed to an amended outline that includes a purchasing commitment for two therapeutic products that represent an incremental value of about $250 million through the end of the renewed term. The original contract was initiated in 2020 and scheduled to expire in 2026. The renewal comes after six months of negotiations and extends the contract through 2029.

The agreement follows a successful regulatory inspection that the FDA conducted in June 2024 at KBI’s Hamlin Road mammalian operation facility in Durham, North Carolina, where the manufacturing will take place. That regulatory inspection enables the company’s North Carolina operations to provide an oncological mammalian drug substance commercially to one of its key strategic customers.

“As KBI continues fulfilling its commitment to our customers in helping solve their complex manufacturing challenges, this commercial contract extension allows us to demonstrate our approach as a next-generation CDMO,” said JD Mowery, president and CEO of KBI Biopharma. “With this agreement as well as our successful FDA regulatory inspection, we’re driving breakthroughs in biopharmaceutical development and manufacturing that help bring new therapies to market.”

Sarah Wakefield, SVP, corporate communications and global marketing at KBI, told BioProcess Insider that “in the future, these molecules will also be produced at the newly constructed Patriot Park facility,” which is also located in Durham.

Wakefield emphasized that the personnel at KBI are well-prepared to fulfill the terms of the contract. “We have a learning and development culture here at KBI Biopharma,” she said. “We are constantly training our team on industry standards and best practices. They are also trained on process specific procedures prior to working on the associated molecules.”