Cell therapy weekly: FUJIFILM invests US$188 million in new cell culture media manufacturing facility
This week: FUJIFILM invests US$188 million in new cell culture media manufacturing facility, Healiva acquires manufacturing assets to accelerate cell therapy for chronic wounds and Tevogen Bio announces plans to investigate T-cell therapy for Long COVID.
The news highlights:
FUJIFILM invests US$188 million in new cell culture media manufacturing facility
FUJIFILM Corporation (Tokyo, Japan) has invested US$188 million to establish a cell culture media manufacturing facility in Research Triangle Park (NC, USA). FUJIFILM Irvine Scientific (CA, USA) will operate the new facility, which will support cGMP manufacture of animal component-free, dry powder and liquid media. This is FUJIFILM’s fifth media manufacturing facility and will create over 100 new positions, including manufacturing, production and logistics roles and bioprocessing engineers.
Yutaka Yamaguchi, chairman and CEO of FUJIFILM Irvine Scientific stated: “Our customers require rapid, reliable delivery of cell culture media to support their commercial production. The cell culture media that will be manufactured at this new site in North Carolina will help ensure a steady supply of raw materials for biologics, cell and gene therapies, and other key medicines that are essential to human health. The additional production capacity will ensure we meet the projected demand for cell culture media from our customers worldwide.”
Healiva acquires manufacturing assets to accelerate cell therapy for chronic wounds
Healiva® (Lugano, Switzerland), a biotech company focusing on precision medicine for chronic and acute wounds, has acquired critical manufacturing assets from B. Braun’s (Melsungen, Germany) B. Braun Medical AG Switzerland affiliate. The acquisition will facilitate GMP-compliant manufacturing of Healiva’s first cell therapy, EpiDex®, by providing a qualified cell bank. EpidDex is an autologous epidermis derived from the patient’s own hair cells.
Priyanka Dutta-Passecker, co-founder and CEO of Healiva stated: “This transaction will enable Healiva to accelerate the launch of EpiDex, which is projected for Q4 2023. This will allow us to deliver our clinically proven, surgery-free solution to patients with severe chronic wounds more promptly, shortening the path to market for EpiDex by approximately one year.”
Tevogen Bio announces plans to investigate T-cell therapy for Long COVID
Tevogen Bio (NJ, USA) announced its intention to study the therapeutic potential of its investigational COVID-19 T-cell therapy, TVGN-489, in Long COVID. TVGN-489 employs cytotoxic CD8+ T lymphocytes to detect and kill cells infected with SARS-CoV-2 by recognizing proteins from across the entire SARS-CoV-2 genome, not just the spike protein.
Neil Flomenberg, Chief Scientific Officer of Tevogen Bio stated: “I’m greatly encouraged by the [proof-of-concept] trial experience of TVGN-489 and hopeful that our investigational COVID-19 therapy will eventually offer hope to a substantial segment of Long COVID patients.”
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