eXmoor to become CGT CDMO with $35m funding

The funding will support the launch of a CGT facility in Bristol, UK and cement the firm’s CDMO status, says eXmoor pharma.

Cell and gene therapy (CGT) firm eXmoor said the expansion, funded by a $35 million Series A financing round, will complete its movement into a full-service CGT contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO).

“eXmoor has been supporting the CGT industry for the last 15 years developing right first time CMC strategies and manufacturing facilities (via our translation and capital consulting groups) and for the last five years developing commercializable processes via our PD and AD labs,” to Angela Osborne, CEO, eXmoor told BioProcess Insider.

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“Our industry requires ever increasing capability not just capacity throughout the CMC pathway to accelerate commercialization of the many products coming out of research and moving through the clinic. To continue seamlessly delivering manufactured product to patients in the clinic we recognized the need to put in place our own manufacturing facilities.”

The 65,000 square-foot CGT center is located in Bristol, UK and has been designed to develop and manufacture viral vectors and autologous and allogeneic cell therapies. eXmoor said it anticipates opening the plant in July and it will include manufacturing cleanrooms, support spaces for all types of CGTS, as well as process and analytical development and quality control laboratories.

“The majority of the funding has gone into the capital build. The remainder was required to build the GMP team and GMP processes ahead of revenue generation and to invest in systems and people (HR, finance, ICT, quality) to support our expansion,” Osborne told us.

The Series A financing round was led by existing investor MVM partners and new investor Kineticos Ventures to turn eXmoor into a CDMO in the CGT space. According to the firm, it is expected to grow its employees from 80 to 200 by 2027.

“Bristol is a wonderful cosmopolitan city built around the river Avon […]. It has world class universities for life sciences and a fast-growing incubator infrastructure to encourage spin outs. In this area of skill shortage, we’ve found it an advantage to both recruit and retain staff within Bristol and from the golden triangle to Bristol,” said Osborne.

In March, eXmoor partnered with vaccine platform developer, Imophoron. The collaboration aims to manufacture vaccines for clinical use at eXmoor’s Bristol, UK plant set to launch in Q3, 2023.