Bionova expands into pDNA with $100m Texas site

Asahi Kasei Medical’s contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) arm Bionova will establish a 100,000 square-foot facility in The Woodlands, Houston. The site is expected to open in the first quarter of 2025, the firm confirmed.

“When the new facility begins operations, Bionova Scientific will offer pDNA development services and production of research grade and high quality pDNA. GMP manufacturing is planned for later in 2025,” James Glover, COO of Bionova told BioProcess Insider.

“We are confident that by this time next year, we will be well into the delivery of expert development services and production of high quality pDNA. After evaluating multiple locations, Bionova selected The Woodlands due to its geographical proximity to cell and gene therapy (CGT) companies across the US, as well as local access to the rapidly expanding CGT ecosystem in Texas.”

The facility aims to broaden the CDMO's portfolio, aligning with Asahi Kasei's strategic plan established before the acquisition of Bionova in 2022, the firm said.

“Bionova’s mission has always been to help our partners get their therapeutics to patients faster. In our traditional biologics operation, we’ve had great success helping partners overcome technical hurdles and streamlining timelines to get them into the clinic rapidly,” Darren Head, CEO of Bionova Scientific told us.

“That requires that we not only work smarter, but that we have the physical assets needed to avoid delays. We are taking the same approach with plasmid DNA, starting with building a committed, expert team and then designing and establishing a facility that will translate to the same kinds of successes.”

Bionova is also expanding its biologics manufacturing capacity at its Fremont, California headquarters, aiming to quadruple GMP manufacturing capacity.