The National Health Service has opened a £10 ($12.5) million cell and gene therapy manufacturing plant in Bristol that will increase UK capacity for plasmids and vectors. The Government-funded Clinical Biotechnology Centre (CBC) is designed to expand the UK’s ability to make the clinical grade products required for the research and development of new cell and gene therapies. The center will manufacture both plasmids and viral vectors. It will support early phase clinical trials and pre-clinical work. In time, the…

Details remain scarce but Gracell Biotech inked a cell therapy development deal days before Pfizer confirmed it is set to buy Seagen. Shanghai cell and gene therapy company Gracell announced in a press release that it had entered an unusual, non-exclusive global deal with Seattle’s Seagen to conduct pre-clinical research on Seagen’s cell therapy products and acquire (non-exclusive) rights to five of Seagen’s cell therapies. The press release was dated March 8, 2023, which was before Seagen announced on Monday,…

Bispecific antibodies that mirror the natural biology of immune T-cells are the key to a new generation of cancer therapies, according to Regeneron.  Antibodies bind specific antigens – molecular targets such as proteins expressed on the surface of tumors. Bispecific antibodies, as the name suggests, can bind two antigens at the same time. This binding ability means they have significant potential as therapies according to Eric Smith, senior director of bispecific antibodies at Regeneron, who shared details of the firm’s…

Bayer says ‘Biotech Data as a Service (BDAS),’ a digitalized platform under development, will further its position in the cell and gene therapy space. Earlier this year, biopharma firm Bayer struck a $40 million deal with Mammoth Biosciences to access CRISPR systems for the development of in vivo gene-editing therapies. The collaboration is the latest in a string of investments in the cell and gene therapy (CGT) sector, a sector described by Bayer’s VP of Biotech Data Science & Digitalization Oliver Hesse…

CDMO Oligo Factory has increased its oligonucleotide synthesis capability 12-fold through the opening of a 13,000 square-foot facility in Holliston, Massachusetts. The facility – which opened its doors earlier this month and represents over $1 million in customized hardware and unique buildout – consists of bench space, offices, and labs for Oligo Factory’s next generation of synthesizers, and significantly ups its manufacturing capacity. Oligo Factory delivers oligos for several markets, including functional genomics, diagnostics, and therapeutics. The growing demand drove…

CDMO Lonza will integrate Simris’s antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) payload technology into its bioconjugation services. Swedish biotech Simris Biolgics, previously known as Cyano Biotech, has entered a strategic partnership to make contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Lonza its preferred partner for the commercialization of its ADC payload platform. Under terms of the deal, financials of which have not been divulged, Lonza will gain the exclusive right to offer the technology to customers seeking payloads to develop into ADCs, while Simris…

RNA vaccine manufacturing has lower CAPEX but higher operational costs than AVV vaccine production, says an expert at BPI West.   Messenger (mRNA) was thrusted into the limelight through the success of Moderna and BioNTech/Pfizer’s respective COVID-19 vaccines. Their approvals have helped bring confidence to the mRNA sector and drive investment in wider RNA technology platforms.  But despite its success, the RNA space still has many challenges to overcome and comparisons to other modalities are heavily debated. Zoltan Kis, lecturer at…

Maxion Therapeutics’ $16 million Series A financing round will be used to develop biologics targeting ion channels and GPCRs via its KnotBody platform. Cambridge, UK based firm Maxion said ion channels and G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are essential cell surface proteins, which can be used to treat a range of diseases, including chronic pain and autoimmune conditions. The Series A funding round, led by LifeArc Ventures, BGF, and Monograph Capital, will support the advancement of Maxion’s KnotBody platform. To date, small…

Other hemophilia B gene therapy developers are looking to learn from CSL as it preps to launch the $3.5 million product in the US, the firm says. In December 2022, CSL Behring won US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for its one-time gene therapy Hemgenix (etranacogene dezaparvovec). The single-dose therapy treats adults with hemophilia B – a rare bleeding disorder caused by a gene defect that results in insufficient production of blood clotting protein factor IX – and has…

Students in Birmingham, UK are being trained in the production and administration of cell and gene therapies (CGTs) using virtual reality software. BioProcess Insider spoke with Professor Ivan Wall, co-founder and CEO of FourPlus Immersive, to find out more. Wall’s company produces virtual reality (VR) software that students and biopharmaceutical industry professionals use to train in good manufacturing practices (GMPs), which recreates the hands-on experience of cleanroom manufacturing. Apprentices train at the National Training Centre for Advanced Therapies Manufacturing at…