Oxford Biomedica to bolster viral vector capacity with ABL Europe buy

Oxford Biomedica is set to add two facilities in France to its CDMO network through the addition of ABL Europe from Institut Mérieux.

The deal will see France’s Institut Mérieux pay €15 million ($16 million) in exchange for shares in contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Oxford Biomedica, while committing an additional €20 million of future funding to ABL Europe.

In exchange, Oxford Biomedica will add GMP-compliant viral vectors facilities in Lyon and Strasbourg, France along with ABL’s client sheet, which involves more than 10 cell and gene therapy programs with various different vector types.

ABL Europe’s site in Lyon, France

ABL was acquired by bioMerieux, Inc. in the early 2000s and later spun out under the Institut Mérieux. In 2015, Institut Mérieux created the wholly-owned subsidiary ABL Europe to lead ABL manufacturing operations in Europe.

Michel Baguenault, CEO of Institut Mérieux, described the deal as an opportunity to partner with Oxford Biomedica. “We are giving ABL Europe’s teams and its French sites new development prospects and access to innovative technologies that will enable them to broaden their offering to biopharmaceutical companies.”

Oxford Biomedica CEO Frank Mathias added the deal brings extra capacity and augments his firm’s position in the CDMO space: “ABL Europe offers the opportunity to gain a footprint in the EU and free up Oxford Biomedica’s capacity to meet increasing client demand, as well as significantly increasing our capabilities and flexibility for clients,” he said.

The Lyon facility includes 750 square meters of manufacturing suites equipped with single-use 50L-scale (rocking-motion bioreactors) to 200L-scale (stirred bioreactors) that fit with adherent and suspension cell culture, along with cell banking and fill & finish capabilities.

Strasbourg, meanwhile, has four independent suites focused on development and scalable production as well as a dedicated fill & finish suite with capacity of up to 10,000 vials/batch.

“Our goal is to deliver excellent client experiences and accelerate the time it takes for our clients to get their products to market. We are excited about the possibility of welcoming ABL Europe staff to our group and Institut Mérieux as a long-term shareholder and turn to 2024 with great excitement and confidence.”

The Serum Institute of India took a stake in Oxford Biomedica back in 2021. In January 2022, the firm forged a $130 million joint venture with Homology Medicines. Since then, the CDMO has announced a long list of industry partnerships, including with Orchard Therapeutics, Bristol Myers Squibb’s Juno, and – last month – Cabaletta Bio.