Dive Brief:
- British biopharma contractor Cobra Biologics said this week it will inject up to £15 million (roughly $19 million) into a phased expansion of its U.K. and Swedish manufacturing facilities, creating up to 50 new jobs.
- The investment is in response to growing demand from gene and immunotherapy companies seeking speedy production of DNA and viral vectors for clinical testing and market supply.
- Cobra's planned first phase will expand its viral vector manufacturing capabilities in the U.K. for Phase 3 studies and commercial use. The second stage, in Sweden, will double capacity for high quality DNA plasmid production used for adeno-associated viruses and lentiviruses. Finally, Cobra will ramp up clinical and commercial DNA production.
Dive Insight:
Not so very long ago, gene and immunotherapies were nothing more than a twinkle in a researchers eye. Now they are filling late-stage pipelines and moving rapidly into commercial use.
Cell therapies like CAR-T are on the verge of reaching markets while companies like Spark Therapeutics and BlueBird Bio are working to bring gene treatments to diseases ranging from inherited retinal diseases to beta-thalassemia.
In order to keep up with that rapid growth, contractors like Cobra have begun to build out their production capabilities to manufacture the vectors and components of these potentially game-changing treatments.
Larger manufacturers like GE Healthcare and the Swiss contracting giant Lonza have also recently taken steps to expand their manufacturing capabilities in gene therapy.
Cobra CEO Peter Coleman also noted the need to manufacture quickly for gene and immunotherapy companies.
"Many of these new products have orphan drug status and as a CDMO, we need to respond with a quick and seamless production route to market," Coleman said.