Peregrine flying high as CMO biz preps to open new mAb facility
Peregrine Pharmaceuticals saw revenues grow 20% y-o-y, mostly due to its contract manufacturing subsidiary Avid Biosciences which reported total sales of $27m (€25m) for the fiscal year 2015.
During a conference call discussing these results Tuesday, management said there was a committed backlog of $40m from existing customers, much of which will be carried out at a new mammalian cell culture facility in California set to come online in the next few months.
“Last December, we laid out strategic plans to expand our manufacturing capacity to help support the revenue growth of Avid,” said CFO Paul Lytle. “I am excited to say that the new facility is close to being ready for production.
“The core manufacturing suite has been built, the equipment has been installed, and it is now undergoing some final testing to ensure all systems are operating effectively,” he told investors. “We remain on track to commence production in this new facility in the very near future.”
While the investment will service its customers, the facility has also been built in preparation of a commercial launch of Peregrine’s own lead candidate bavituximab a monoclonal antibody (mAb) for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), a Phase III trial blinded, randomized trial of which is on track to end enrolment by the end of the year.
The new facility was described as a “pivotal event” in the growth of Avid and potential commercialization of bavituximab by CEO Steve King during the call, who added there would be “a nice mix” between in-house and customer utilization.
