Analytical (technologies & services)

Aduro told to halt cancer vaccine trial enrollment after listeria found in patient sample

25-Oct-2016 By Gareth Macdonald

The US FDA has told Aduro Biotech not to enrol subjects in trials of its listeria-based immunotherapies after one study subject tested positive for the bacteria.

CMC Biologics and IDT Biologika expand ADC manufacturing collaboration

13-Oct-2016 By Melissa Fassbender

CMC Biologics and IDT Biologika have added Cerbios-Pharma SA and Oncotec Pharma Produktion GmbH to the companies’ PROVEO Partnership – a strategic collaboration for manufacturing antibody drug conjugates (ADCs).

Danaher set to buy purification consumables firm Phenomenex

12-Oct-2016 By Dan Stanton

Danaher Corporation will further extend its presence in the life sciences space through the acquisition of separations and purification firm Phenomenex.

Catalent sells rights to ADC candidate and gains development contract

12-Oct-2016 By Dan Stanton

Catalent will continue to develop and manufacture a non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) for Triphase Accelerator Corporation after licensing out the candidate.

EpimAb and Kymab join forces to develop bispecific Abs

11-Oct-2016 By Dan Stanton

EpimAb Biotherapeutics will combine its bispecific antibody generating technology with Kymab’s mouse mAb production platform in a cross-licensing deal between the two firms.

UK and Ireland biomanufacturing centres ink cell line deal with Horizon

20-Sep-2016 By Dan Stanton

Horizon Discovery says flexibility and openness helped the UK’s Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) and Ireland’s NIBRT choose to provide its GS null CHO cell line to the biologics industry.

AGC leaps into microbial CMO space through Biomeva acquisition

13-Sep-2016 By Dan Stanton

Japanese glass solution provider AGC Asahi Glass has bought Germany’s Biomeva in a bid to launch itself into the international microbial CMO space.

INFOGRAPHIC

The future of the biopharma industry: emerging markets and biosimilars

07-Sep-2016 By Dan Stanton

China and India are the most important growth markets for biopharmaceutical manufacturers, according to our state of the industry survey.

INFOGRAPHIC

State of the biopharma industry: the double-edged sword of single-use

06-Sep-2016 By Dan Stanton

Biomanufacturers have fully embraced disposable technologies but the market is controlled by a handful of vendors keeping equipment costs high, our reader survey reveals.

SGS opens dedicated extractables and leachables testing facility

06-Sep-2016 By Melissa Fassbender

SGS has opened a new Wiesbaden-based facility to serve as its global Center of Excellence for Extractable Studies and Impurities Profiling as customer demand increases.

When it comes to vaccine adjuvants, not all alum is equal

05-Sep-2016 By Phil Taylor

Aluminium adjuvants should not be used in trial placebos according to UK scientists who say the differing physical and biological properties of alum salt forms makes some safer than others.

ISCT: Upfront manufacturing costs major obstacle to cell therapy innovation

31-Aug-2016 By Dan Stanton

The International Society for Cellular Therapy (ISCT) has called for a streamlined manufacturing regulatory pathway for cellular therapies to overcome the high upfront costs of manufacturing such products.

EMA says biologics developers need to be extra vigilant

19-Aug-2016 By Gareth Macdonald

Biologics developers need to be more vigilant about immunogenicity and manufacturing changes than small molecule drug manufacturers according to the EMA.

Rumour of Thermo Fisher Scientific $30bn offer for Illumina

19-Aug-2016 By Joseph James Whitworth

Thermo Fisher Scientific has reportedly made a $30bn bid for Illumina.

Biologics and biosimilar services drive Q2 sales boost for CRL

04-Aug-2016 By Dan Stanton

Charles River says it is capitalising on the growing number of biologics in development, with its manufacturing business seeing double-digit growth led by demand for biosafety and cell banking services.

Ziopharm investigating death in Ph I trial of brain cancer gene therapy

18-Jul-2016 By Gareth Macdonald

Ziopharm Oncology has started investigating a death that occured during a Ph I trial of its candidate brain cancer gene therapy, Ad-RTS-hIL-12.

Two component ‘bio-ink’ could help advance 3D printing of tissues

06-Jul-2016 By Phil Taylor

Researchers in the UK say they have developed a ‘bio-ink’, which overcomes obstacles holding back the use of 3D printing to make complex tissues.

AMSBIO launches research tool suite for checkpoint inhibitors

05-Jul-2016 By Phil Taylor

Anglo-American life science firm AMS Biotechnology has launched new cell lines to help companies researching the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway, one of the hottest areas of immuno-oncology research.

UK's commercial DNA foundry a step on path to 'bioeconomy'

05-Jul-2016 By Phil Taylor

The opening of the UK's first synthetic biology foundry promises to usher in a new era of cheaper and more accessible DNA synthesis.

Sartorius $90m IntelliCyt acquisition adds cell analysis capabilities

29-Jun-2016 By Dan Stanton

Sartorius has expanded its bio-analytics capabilities through the $90m (€81m) acquisition of IntelliCyt.

Q&A

Porton replacing older facilities with new biopharma development plant

28-Jun-2016 By Dan Stanton

Porton Biopharma has begun construction on a new bioprocess development and manufacturing facility in the UK equipped with fermentation and down-stream processing suites.

MAb characterisation course could reskill small molecule API workers, NIBRT

24-Jun-2016 By Dan Stanton

Interested in moving from small to large molecule manufacturing? An upcoming course will address mAb characterisation challenges and offer hands-on experience for small molecule manufacturers , says NIBRT, Ireland’s biomanufacturing training centre.

Adaptimmune inks 10-year deal with Thermo Fisher for T Cell expansion tech

21-Jun-2016 By Staff Reporter

Adaptimmune has entered into a new 10-year development and supply agreement for use of thermos Fisher’s Dynabeads CD3/CD28 CTS T-cell isolation, activation and expansion technology.

Biopharma CRO round-up: Eurofins, Charles River and more

14-Jun-2016 By Staff Reporter

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.

BIO 2016

Technology, not capacity, driving Catalent’s biologics strategy

14-Jun-2016 By Dan Stanton

Differentiated technologies buoyed by the recent $600m conjugation deal with Roche is driving Catalent’s biologics business, the firm told Biopharma-Reporter at BIO.

UPDATE

New tech will drive single-use shift in microbial sector, says Eppendorf

01-Jun-2016 By Dan Stanton

Eppendorf has launched a stirred-tank, rigid-wall bioreactor it says can help address single-use challenges in microbial applications.

Thermo: FEI deal will complement mass spec portfolio

27-May-2016 By Joseph James Whitworth

Thermo Fisher Scientific is to buy FEI Company for $4.2bn saying it will drive adoption of FEI’s technologies among its life sciences customers, particularly in biopharma.

CGT to test scaffold tech for commercial-scale T-cell production

25-May-2016 By Gareth Macdonald

The UK Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult (CGT) will test a “scaffold” technology its Australian developers say could make T-cell production more efficient.

Evercyte and VTU team to develop animal-free cell growth media

25-May-2016 By Dan Stanton

Evercyte has teamed up with VTU Technology to develop cell culture media free from animal derived products, which the firm says is now essential for biomanufacturers.

EAG expands biopharma analysis capabilities in 'major investment'

20-May-2016 By Melissa Fassbender

EAG has further invested in ABC Laboratories' capacity and analytical capabilities in order to help meet demand for high-end biopharmaceutical analysis.

New technique creates 'nearly pure drug' for injection

19-May-2016 By Melissa Fassbender

Researchers have developed an “easy-to-adopt” process for removing excess additives from injectable drugs.

Ajinomoto Althea gets US patent for fast, industrial-scale antibody crystallization method

19-May-2016 By Gareth Macdonald

Ajinomoto Althea has been granted a US patent for a whole antibody crystallization method that is faster at producing stable, biologically-active crystals than current techniques.

Biogen eyes Regenxbio delivery tech for candidate occular gene therapies

17-May-2016 By Gareth Macdonald

Biogen has licensed rights use a gene therapy delivery technology from developer Regenxbio.

BioLife high on cell therapy opportunities for its media and logistics services

13-May-2016 By Dan Stanton

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.

Biotrinity 2016

CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing tech could eliminate orphan diseases, entrepreneur

29-Apr-2016 By Dan Stanton

CRISPR-Cas9 technology has the potential to eliminate orphan diseases, according to a British life science entrepreneur and investor.

BioCellChallenge granted US patent for antibody delivery tech

20-Apr-2016 By Dan Stanton

Triazamacrocyclic lipid complexes increase the efficiency of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) by delivering the payload right into the heart of a cancer cell, says BioCellChallenge.

Dispatches from BPI Europe 2016

GE Healthcare: Expanded Austrian plant incorporating ex-Thermo media business

12-Apr-2016 By Dan Stanton

GE Healthcare has expanded a facility in Austria to house the European wing of the Hyclone cell culture business it acquired from Thermo Fisher.

Asymptote to commercialize in clinic cell therapy thawing tech

08-Apr-2016 By Gareth Macdonald

Asymptote plans to launch a point-of-care thawing system for cell therapies it developed with Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult (CGTC).

GE and Zenith collaborate on bioprocessing automation

05-Apr-2016 By Dan Stanton

GE has teamed up with Zenith Technologies to implement automation across its single-use and modular bioprocessing technologies.

Eurofins agrees to buy US analytical services firm Advantar Laboratories

01-Apr-2016 By Gareth Macdonald

Eurofins Scientific has agreed to buy analytical services firm Advantar Laboratories in its latest deal in the pharmaceutical space.

Thermo Fisher strengthens antibody services through Affymetrix merger

01-Apr-2016 By Dan Stanton

Thermo Fisher has expanded its life sciences tools business through the acquisition of biological analysis firm Affymetrix for $1.3bn.

New WCG board to advise on gene therapy research

30-Mar-2016 By Melissa Fassbender

WIRB-Copernicus Group (WCG) has assembled a team of experts to advise the company as it advances its gene therapy research.

Plasticell and Sphere team to make cell therapies cheaper

29-Mar-2016 By Gareth Macdonald

Plasticell has teamed up with encapsulation and screening tech firm Sphere Fluidics to develop genetic modification technology for cell therapy production.

GE calls on diagnostics systems firm LeukoDx for cell characterization tech

25-Mar-2016 By Gareth Macdonald

LeukoDx will develop a cell characterization system for GE Healthcare in a deal designed to bolster the latter’s cell therapy manufacturing technology offering.

Quanterix raises $46m with goal of adding 60 new assays

23-Mar-2016 By Melissa Fassbender

The funding will be used to accelerate the company’s global expansion of its proprietary digital immunoassay platform into new markets.

BioOutsource announces new assays for three biologics

23-Mar-2016 By Melissa Fassbender

Sartorius Stedim Biotech (SSB), a supplier for the biopharmaceutical industry, has announced new, ready-to-use assays for testing biosimilars.

UK CRO BioPharmaSpec eyes growth in India and Asia-Pacific

21-Mar-2016 By Gareth Macdonald

BioPharmaSpec has set up business development teams for the Indian and Asia-Pacific markets and predicted increased demand for biosimilar characterisation services.

Gyros and Protein Tech to merge, creating end-to-end biopeptide tools firm

16-Mar-2016 By Dan Stanton

The combination of Gyros and Protein Technologies will give biomanufacturers greater access to protein and peptide processing tools and reagents, the CEO says.

CHO business: Lonza launches reformulated media for biopharma's go-to cell line

15-Mar-2016 By Gareth Macdonald

Lonza has launched a reformulated CHO media that it says supports the growth of higher density cultures and is easier to filter than currently available products.