WuXi AppTec Acquires OXGENE to Increase Cell and Gene Therapy Offerings

WuXi AppTec announced on March 2, 2021 that it has acquired OXGENE, a UK-based contract research and development organization focused on the design and development of scalable gene therapy technologies.

Under the terms of the acquisition, OXGENE will become a fully owned subsidiary of WuXi Advanced Therapies (WuXi ATU), WuXi AppTec’s cell and gene therapy contract testing, development, and manufacturing organization (CTDMO) business unit, WuXi Apptec said in a company press release. OXGENE will be WuXi ATU’s first facility in Europe and will work to enhance WuXi ATU’s abilities to transform the development, testing, manufacturing, and commercialization of cell and gene therapy products while accelerating their time to market.

“OXGENE is proud to have invented a range of next-generation platforms that address the complexities of viral vector manufacturing for gene and cell therapies,” said Dr. Ryan Cawood, founder and CEO of OXGENE, in the press release. “We are excited to join the team at WuXi ATU and to work together to scale up our technologies as a combined business, which will strengthen and broaden our service offerings for customers, improving by orders of magnitude the scale and cost of bringing cell and gene therapies to market. The benefits will be significant for the industry and for patients worldwide.”

“We are delighted to welcome OXGENE to WuXi ATU,” added Dr. David Chang, CEO of WuXi ATU, in the press release. “By combining WuXi ATU’s world-class cell and gene therapy CTDMO platform with OXGENE’s innovative capabilities, we will be able to provide transformative solutions for our customers. This business combination represents a significant step in our ongoing effort to enable our customers and partners worldwide to deliver more effective and accessible advanced therapies to patients globally.”

Source: WuXi AppTec