An expansion in Ireland for Eurofins, new cell screening tech for Cyprotex, and an mRNA development deal for Charles River. Welcome to Biopharma-Reporter’s bio-service round-up.
Single-use technology is driving a new era in vaccine development says PnuVax which has acquired IP from GE Healthcare to produce an inactivated yellow fever vaccine.
A downstream centre in Scotland will allow local biotechs to test product scale-up without outsourcing overseas, while complementing other Government-funded bioprocessing projects in the UK.
Industry’s uptake of stainless steel systems continues to fall as biomanufacturers move away from large volume blockbuster biologics, according to GE Healthcare.
Combination therapies and collaboration will be key in curing cancer, according to Pfizer which has seen 'astounding progress' in its immuno-oncology partnership with Merck KGaA.
BioLife Solutions has partnered with transportation firm MNX and says it expects increased demand for its biologistics services as more cell therapies enter the clinic.
Daiichi Sankyo has paid Cell Therapy Ltd £12.5m ($18m) for the Japanese rights to its cardiac regeneration candidate Heartcel, made from allogeneic stem cells.
Distance and time differences are not barriers when choosing a biologics CMO, says Goodwin Biotechnology which has won a bispecific antibody process and scale-up contract from Russia’s IBC Generium.
Three deals in the last week signal AbbVie’s strategy in immuno-oncology but are just the latest examples of Big Biopharma’s trend for clinical partnerships.
Eppendorf will tackle the challenges of scaling-up human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) as part of a Horizon 2020 project to develop cell-based heart therapies.
Cell therapy firms must invest in engineering and learn from biopharma according to the US Government, which says high cost of regenerative treatments is slowing uptake.
Bristol-Myers Squibb has announced plans to set up a biomanufacturing process laboratory in collaboration with Ireland's National Institute of Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT).
The partnership with recombinant protein development firm GTP Technologies will create an end-to-end manufacturing service, speeding up production of monoclonal antibodies and reducing costs, says Novasep.
The changeover time between batches is significantly quicker using disposable equipment, says Avid Bioservices whose new biomanufacturing facility boasts several 1,000L single-use bioreactors.
Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi, has launched a vaccine research and development project targeting the prevention of Zika virus infection and disease.
New facilities and a successful CMO tech transfer have helped turnaround the manufacturing of cell therapy product Ovasave, says TxCell after production was suspended last year.
BioMarin expects commercial production of its recently approved orphan drug Vimizim (elosulfase alfa) to begin at a secondary facility in Ireland – acquired from Pfizer – mid-2017.
Scaling-up without expanding its manufacturing footprint was key in selecting Pall's Xpansion bioreactor, says UCL which is looking to create “the world’s largest therapeutic cell bank.”
Reliance on third-party technologies is leaving T-Cell drug developers vulnerable and has driven the larger players to invest in their own platforms, say experts.
Mucosis has been awarded a Wellcome Trust grant of €3.7m ($4m) to help develop a Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) vaccine using its intranasal delivery platform.
The Cell Therapy Catapult (CTC) UK is in talks over gene and cell therapy partnerships similar to its latest deal with Cancer Research Technology and the University of Birmingham, says Chief Business Officer Matthew Durdy.
MedImmune has the option to acquire a Chinese biologics manufacturing facility for around $100m in an expansion of its joint venture with WuXi Apptech.
Sanofi's recent decision to stop making anti-venom could lead to shortages from next year and place the lives of thousands of people in jeopardy, says the World Health Organisation (WHO).
