Forge Bio wins GentiBio AAV vector contract

Forge Bio will develop and manufacture adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors for GentiBio’s engineered Tregs candidates from its site in Columbus, Ohio.

The deal will see contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Forge Bio use its Blaze Vector production platform and HEK 293 Suspension Ignition Cells to support GentiBio’s preclinical and clinical programs.

The work will be undertaken at Forge Bio’s facilities at The Hearth, Columbus, which has grown through heavy investment over the past year.

Forge Bio’s facility in Columbus, Ohio. Image c/o Google

“Forge has rapidly expanded our team since closing the $40 million Series A (July 2020) and $120 million Series B (April 2021) and has over 110 employees (and growing weekly) to serve Genti’s manufacturing needs in our fully equipped 175,000 sq ft research and GMP facility,” a spokesperson from Forge told BioProcess Insider.

At the time of the most recent financing, the firm said the $120 million will allow the CDMO to take on almost four times the number of clients, tripling its capacity by 2022.

“Forge has multiple active GMP suites to serve our clients, and we’re already expanding capacity in both bioreactors and additional suites to give us significant increased capacity in our 175,000 sq ft facility.”

GentiBio launched in August 2020 through $20 million seed funding. The biotech is focused on developing autologous and allogeneic engineered regulatory T cells (EngTregs) programmed to treat autoimmune, alloimmune, autoinflammatory, and allergic diseases.

Forge, which is developing its own pipeline as well as functioning as a CDMO, says biotech startups like GentiBio are just one group of customers being targeted.

“Forge serves a variety of clients, from Series A startup to mid-cap public company,” we were told.

“We strive to meet our clients where they need us, at all stages of their AAV gene therapy program development. Most clients need process development and analytical development as part of their program growth enroute to GMP manufacturing campaigns. We provide the space and expertise.”