Bora Pharmaceuticals bolsters CDMO biz with Eden buy

As part of its five-year plan, Bora Pharmaceuticals will initially invest $50 million to acquire the CDMO assets of Eden Biologics in Taiwan.

Taiwan-based contract development manufacturing organization (CDMO) Bora Pharmaceuticals has said it will initially invest $50 million and up to $100 million to acquire Eden’s CDMO assets.

Through the acquisition, Bora will gain assets located in Hsinchu Biomedical Science Park, Taiwan. According to the CDMO, this will build and expand its presence in the biological macromolecule and cell and gene therapy space, in turn, expanding the firms service offerings.

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“The addition of the CDMO facilities state of the art equipment and the expertise of the highly qualified team gives Bora Biologics the ability to develop and continue with our clients as they progress to commercialization,” Bora vice president Simon Chen said.

The acquisition of the facility will provide Bora with biopharmaceutical technologies, which can be used to develop cell lines for the manufacture of protein drugs, and analysis of upstream and downstream processes. Additionally, the company said it will establish quality control and inspection specifications, and cell bank generation.

The plant has four 500 L bioreactors, all of which have been certified by the EU Qualified Person (QP) and the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare.

A spokesperson for the firm told us that “language and culture familiarity,” as well as being able to manage from its HR and Zhunan site are some of the reasons that the CDMO selected this location. Additionally, they said that “Bora’s brand name can retain top talent easier than in US.”

Bora claims the decision to buy Eden’s assets is an “important milestone” for the company as it looks to expand its presence in the CDMO market and continue its commitment to creating a global CDMO with a wide-range of capabilities.

“The deal includes MSA which means Eden’s products will be transferred to Bora Biologics in the future,” said the spokesperson.

The news comes a year after Bora partnered with Taishin Healthcare Limited to strengthen its offering by jointly investing $108 million.

Keen readers of BioProcess Insider may recognise Eden Biologics (previously JHL Biotech), which was involved in a high profile lawsuit. The two co-founders of Taiwanese firm Racho Jordanov and Rose were sentenced in March this year for plotting to steal trade secrets from Genentech and committing wire fraud exceeding $101 million.