A government funded bioprocessing institute is helping to drive biopharma investment and retrain workers in Ireland, and Biopharma-Reporter.com visited to find out what happens in this "flight simulator for biopharma manufacturing."
Horizon, which supplies genomics research services, has bought cell-screening business CombinatoRx from Zalicus for £4.74m ($8m) and plans more acquisitions.
DISPATCHES FROM THE BIOLOGICAL PRODUCTION FORUM, DUBLIN
Single-use technology for high volume biomanufacturing is riddled with problems and will only be fully implemented by industry once the cost drops, according to Pfizer.
Hospira has predicted its biosimilar Retacrit will be approved by the US FDA from late 2016, making it among the first wave of biosimilars to be sold in the US.
GE Healthcare Life Sciences has signed a licensing agreement for Promosome’s suite of mammalian cell line development technologies, which aim to increase protein expression in mammalian cell culture.
The latest generation of “biobetters” which are engineered to be more effective than branded biologics are hitting the market before biosimilars and could make development of the latter pointless, an expert has said.
Development of new anti-choloesterol drugs containing proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibiting monoclonal antibodies could double Repligen Bioprocessing’s earning power, according to a Jefferies analyst.
Takeda has licensed a biodegradable polymer and customisable linker platform from Mersana Therapeutics who says the tech offers advantages over other antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) approaches.
Baxter has announced plans to buy gene therapy developer Chatham Therapeutics for $70m in a deal focused on the latter’s pipeline of haemophilia candidates and gene therapy delivery platform.
An expression system developed by Cevec Pharmaceuticals has achieved 'very high' titres and bypassed problems that beset other platforms, moving the possibility of a commercial respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) one step closer.
Government-backing for a large-scale cell therapy centre is justified because it will help developers navigate the “valley of death” in which many early-phase projects fail says the team planning the new manufacturing hub.
Bayer is investing over €500m ($700m) in manufacturing recombinant factor VIII (rFVIII) products citing growing demand for long-term prophylactic treatment rather than ‘on-demand’ haemophilia drugs.
Ireland is seeing a renewed interest from biotech, the Industrial Development Agency (IDA) says, as Bristol-Myers Squibbs shuts a Dublin API plant to focus on biopharmaceuticals.
The new Centre for Cell Manufacturing Ireland (CCMI) in Galway means Ireland-based scientists will be able to manufacture culture-expanded stem cells for drug research for the first time.
Industry group BIO has responded to a petition by the Generic Pharmaceutical Association (GPhA) in the latest bout of the debate over the international non-proprietary name (INN) for biosimilars.
Biologics could be delivered by routes other than injection using nanobodies one tenth the size of an antibody, Ablynx says as it extends its license with Merck & Co.
Biosimilars could save the US healthcare budget a quarter of a trillion dollars, says Hospira who expects to submit its first application to the USFDA within a year.
The evaluation of Genmab’s Duobody platform for the discovery and development of bispecific antibodies strengthens Eli Lilly’s biologics programme, the firm says.
Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has called on the US FDA to prevent biosimilars being given the same non-proprietary names as their original biologics, while the European Generics Association maintains the practice is “proven to be safe” and “supported...
AstraZeneca has become the third Big Biopharma to strike a deal with Immunocore to license its Immune Mobilising Monoclonal T-Cell Receptor Against Cancer (ImmTAC) technology.
Crescendo Biologics has secured funding to develop a range of Ab fragment-based drugs using its genetically modified mouse platform, including a psoriasis treament that could rival blockbusters like Remicade and Humira.
Roche has teamed with Molecular Profiles to test if short protein sequences can be used to target conjugated cancer drugs when antibodies prove to large.
The climate for biomanufacturing has changed according to Pfizer, which has set out to win more contracting work for its hormone plant in Sweden and says it will even consider making large molecule drugs for Big Pharma rivals.
Genentech has recommissioned plans to make a Californian facility the largest biologics plant worldwide after anticipated revenue drop from biosimilars did not materialise.
Bioinvent has been granted a US patent for its FIRST screening platform and says it is unique in selecting antibodies without any prior knowledge of target identities.
Orgenesis has partnered ATMI and established a subsidiary in Belgium in order to manufacture cells for clinical trials of its insulin-producing regenerative drug.
Biotech developer Regeneron is investing as much as $300m in its New York manufacturing plants and for a new site in Ireland as part of preparations for a potential new blockbuster monoclonal antibody that treats high cholesterol.
With in-house production and manufacturing capacity, as well as a deal with Merck Serono, India-based generics giant Dr. Reddy’s is looking to bring as many as four biosimilars to the EU market by 2019.
MIT engineers have developed a new nanoparticle that can protect a vaccine long enough to generate a strong immune response on mucosal surfaces far from the vaccination site.
Roche has agreed to research, develop and commercialize Inovio Pharmaceuticals' vaccine delivery tech as well as its multi-antigen DNA immunotherapies targeting prostate cancer and hepatitis B.
The $165bn biopharma market is expected to grow by about 15% annually, driven largely by increasing revenue growth from recombinant monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), according to a recent report.
Rani Therapeutics announced Wednesday that it has closed its Series B round of funding after pulling in more than $10m from Google Ventures, InCube Ventures and VentureHealth, a healthcare crowdfunding portal.
A third Novartis biopharmaceutical has received breakthrough designation status from the FDA allowing ‘fast-track’ development and review without compromising safety, the company says.
Mammalian cell culture know-how and location won Rentschler Biotechnologie its new anticancer MAb manufacturing deal according Austrian BioPharma Apeiron Biologics.
GlaxoSmithKline is gambling $50M on a venture capital fund that will invest in 20 projects that pioneer bioelectric drugs and technologies that aim to target individual nerve fibres or specific brain circuits to treat an array of conditions.
