Deals, Development and Manufacturing

Otsuka will use PhoreMost’s phenotypic screening platform to identify new targets for drug development, with a focus on gene therapy.

The license gives Daiichi Sankyo access to ERS Genomics’ genome-editing technology for internal R&D initiatives.

Clinical manufacturing of the therapy will take place at Lonza's Houston, TX, and Netherlands cGMP manufacturing sites.

The new facility, to be operated under the newly formed CDMO, The Center for Breakthrough Medicines, will be located in King of Prussia, PA, and will increase manufacturing capacity for cell and gene therapies.

The new course is directed at analyzing the skills gap in the manufacture of cell and gene therapies as they progress toward manufacturing at scale.

The fully integrated, pre-qualified, pre-installed aseptic filling facility can be shipped globally for drug development and the manufacturing of personalized medicines and clinical trial supplies.

The new company will work to provide the manufacturing technologies and processes needed to develop and commercialize new cell and gene therapies through individual company products and expertise.

The agreement centers around the development of new stem-cell derived allogeneic T-cell therapies for the treatment of cancer.

The formation of the new gene therapy company stems from the progress and success of Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s clinical manufacturing and gene therapy work.

The next-generation gene editing system can be applied to the development of novel cell and gene therapies.

The renaming comes after the sale of Bosch Packaging Technology to CVC Capital Partners was completed on Jan. 2, 2020.

Horizon Discovery Group and Mammoth Biosciences have signed a collaboration and license agreement aimed at the development of the next generation of engineered Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell lines to improve biotherapeutics production.

ProBioGen and Lava Therapeutics have closed the cell line development and manufacturing agreement for Lava’s novel bispecific antibody lead candidate.

Through the agreement, Eli will expand its immunology pipeline with lebrikizumab, Dermira’s novel, investigational, monoclonal antibody designed to bind interleukin-13 with high affinity.

The therapy is currently approved in the EU as a gene therapy for the treatment of patients 12 years and older with transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia.

The companies will kick off their partnership with CPhI North America, a conference that hosts the North American pharmaceutical supply chain.

The new business unit, as well as a new leadership team formed by AbbVie, will be effective upon closing of the acquisition in the first quarter of 2020.

Under the agreement, Almirall will leverage WuXi Biologics’ proprietary WuXiBody platform to develop bispecific antibodies for dermatological diseases.

Roche will apply ProBioGen’s proprietary GlymaxX technology to boost the antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity activity of antibodies.

The joint venture will develop next-generation cell and gene therapies incorporating Affimer proteins.

The acquisition expands Charles River’s scientific capabilities in cell therapy development.

Through the acquisition, Merck will gain access to ArQule’s lead investigational candidate, ARQ 531, a novel, oral Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor currently in a Phase II dose expansion study for the treatment of B-cell malignancies.

The acquisition boosts Sanofi’s pipeline of immuno-oncology product candidates with a lead candidate in development for treating solid-tumor-type cancers.

Under the restructuring, Sanofi will gain sole global rights to Kevzara (sarilumab) and sole ex-US rights to Praluent (alirocumab), while Regeneron will gain sole US rights to Praluent.

GE Healthcare Life Sciences and Guangzhou Development District Investment Promotion Bureau have signed an agreement to jointly establish a training center for biopharmaceutical professionals.

BioMed X has announced the successful completion of its first joint research project in the fields of COPD and IPF that it had undertaken with Boehringer Ingelheim.

CPI has partnered with ImmunoBiology (ImmBio) for the development of a heat-stabilized formulation of a mutli-antigen vaccine candidate against Pneumococcal diseases.

Iontas has entered into a collaboration agreement with Adaptate Biotherapeutics for the generation and optimization of antibodies for novel immune-oncology targets.

Biopharma company, Zelluna Immunotherapy, and clinical stage biotech, Glycostem Therapeutics, have entered into a partnership focused on the development and manufacture of allogeneic T-cell receptor guided Natural Killer cell therapies for the treatment of cancer.

The agreement paves the way for GSK’s specialty HIV company, ViiV Healthcare, to develop a broadly neutralizing antibody, N6LS, for HIV treatment and prevention.