ElevateBio proposes centralized model for cell & gene startups

Neither a CDMO nor an end-user, ElevateBio is looking to change the paradigm in cell and gene therapy development through it’s a centralized R&D and manufacturing model.

Recently launched through a $150 million (€134 million) Series A financing, ElevateBio intends to create and grow a portfolio of cell and gene therapy companies using shared expertise and facilities through its R&D, process development and cGMP manufacturing subsidiary Basecamp.

“BaseCamp is not a CDMO [contract development and manufacturing organization],” ElevateBio’s CEO David Hallal told Bioprocess Insider. “The facility will only be available to ElevateBio portfolio companies and to select strategic partners. Additionally, ElevateBio portfolio companies will have access to the expertise and leadership of the ElevateBio team.”

ElevateBio’s Basecamp will support cell and gene therapy start-ups but is not a CDMO

When complete, ElevateBio BaseCamp, will be a 100,000 square-foot facility located in Waltham, Massachusetts, which includes cGMP manufacturing suites, analytics and QC laboratories, and protein engineering, virology and immunology labs, all with state-of-the art levels of laboratory automation.

A new model, ‘the way biotech should be done’

Hallal, the former CEO at Alexion Pharmaceuticals, described this as “a completely new model in cell and gene therapy, the way biotech should be done.”

Furthermore, the approach suits itself to the cell and gene therapy space as there is higher demand for process development and manufacturing than there is capacity, he continued.

“After years of innovation in cell and gene therapy, the first few cell and gene therapy products have recently been approved by US and European regulators and there is a wave of new pre-clinical and clinical stage programs in the pipeline. Because demand is dramatically outpacing the supply for manufacturing capabilities, CDMO’s play an important role in advancing these programs [but] a significant and growing number of cell and gene therapy companies are seeking to develop a robust number of potentially transformative product candidates and urgently need greater capacity to support them.”

Hallal added: “By having access to one single centralized facility staffed by ElevateBio scientists and operators with extensive cell and gene therapy expertise, our portfolio companies will be able to increase speed and efficiency in getting new therapies from the lab to the clinic and eventually reaching patients suffering with devastating and life-threatening disorders.”