Fujifilm Diosynth in $55-M Expansion; Eurofins in $14-M Expansion
The latest from CDMOs, CMOs, and suppliers featuring Fujifilm Diosynth, Eurofins, PCI Pharma Services, TriLink Biotechnologies, August Bioservices, and Cryoport.
Chemicals/Chemical API Manufacturing
Eurofins Discovery Invests $14 M to Expand Chemistry Capacity
Eurofins Discovery, a business operating under the Eurofins BioPharma Services Division, has announced a $14-million expansion of its chemistry capabilities with a new building nearing completion at its chemistry site at Eurofins Villapharma in Murcia, Spain.
The new 63,000-square-foot facility will support chemical synthesis and purification and more than double Eurofins Discovery’s current capacity. The facility will provide chemistry capacity and capabilities and enable associated services.
The new site is in proximity to the original Eurofins Villapharma site. The construction project is scheduled to conclude in September 2020, with the laboratory build-out and grand opening in early 2021.
Source: Eurofins Discovery
Biologics Manufacturing
Fujifilm Diosynth Breaks Ground for Advanced Therapies Center
Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, a biologics CDMO, started construction project of a new $55-million, 60,000-square-foot building for an Advanced Therapies Innovation Center in Texas.
The new center will house dedicated process development and innovation laboratories to support advanced therapy projects. The building will be part of a 22-acre land parcel acquired by Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies in Bryan-College Station, Texas in June 2020. The laboratories will have BSL-2 capabilities with upstream, downstream, and analytical development technologies. The building will triple the sites’ advanced therapies process- development capabilities. It is expected that this new building will bring approximately 100 jobs to the College Station area.
The Advanced Therapies Innovation Center is expected to be operational by the fall 2021.
Source: Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies
Formulation Development/Drug-Product Manufacturing
August Bioservices To Expand Nashville Facility
August Bioservices, a Nashville, Tennessee-headquartered CDMO (formerly PMI Biopharma Solutions), has announced it will expand following an undisclosed investment from Oak HC/FT, a Greenwich, Connecticut-based venture growth equity fund.
August Bioservices provides testing capabilities for small and large molecules as well as clinical manufacturing services for vial filling, creams, and ointments. Under the company’s new leadership team and fueled by capital investment from Oak HC/FT, August Bioservices will begin two major expansion projects. The company will focus on expanding capacity and adding new injectable filling platforms to its current Nashville facility. In addition, August Bioservices says it is evaluating sites to build a new testing and manufacturing facility.
These parallel initiatives will allow the company to add large-scale lyophilization and sterile fill–finish capabilities to its existing clinical and commercial manufacturing offering.
Source: Oak HC/FT and August Bioservices
General
Investment Firms To Acquire Majority Stake in PCI Pharma Services
Kohlberg & Company, a Mount Kisco, New York-headquartered private equity firm, has agreed to acquire a majority stake in PCI Pharma Services, a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-headquartered CDMO and contract provider of packaging services and a portfolio company of Partners Group, an investment firm. Mubadala Investment Company, an Abu Dhabi-based sovereign investor, has also agreed to make an investment in the company.
Partners Group has agreed to sell its majority equity stake in PCI on behalf of its clients and alongside its consortium partners, Thomas H. Lee Partners and Frazier Healthcare Partners.
Following the sale, Partners Group will retain a minority equity stake in the company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Source: PCI Pharma Services and Mubadala
TriLink To Expand mRNA Capping Capacity, Plasmid DNA Mfg
Maravai LifeSciences, a provider of reagents for nucleic acid synthesis, bioprocess impurity detection and analysis, and protein labeling, reports that its CDMO business, TriLink BioTechnologies, is proceeding with an expansion of messenger RNA (mRNA) capping capacity and a new plasmid DNA production facility.
The expansion, expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2021, will increase TriLink’s small-molecule manufacturing capacity with a focus on additional scale-up of CleanCap, its proprietary messenger RNA (mRNA) capping technology. To further address the increasing demand for mRNA development and clinical programs, the company is also completing the construction of a plasmid DNA production facility.
Last November, TriLink opened its new headquarters in San Diego, California and expanded mRNA and small-molecule capacity with the opening of five suites. The current investment will further expand the operation with an additional three suites and four manufacturing-support suites.
The expansion positions TriLink to meet demand for CleanCap capping reagents, nucleoside triphosphates, and development and services for mRNA therapeutics and vaccine production.
Source: Maravai LifeSciences
Cyroport to Acquire CryoPDP for $58 M
Cryoport, a Brentwood, Tennessee-headquartered provider of cold-chain logistics services for temperature-sensitive life sciences materials, has agreed to acquire Cryopdp, a Paris-headquartered provider of temperature-controlled logistics services to the clinical research, pharmaceutical and cell and gene therapy markets, for approximately EUR 49 million ($58 million).
Cryopdp P has over 220 employees located in 22 facilities in 12 countries, providing customized and turnkey transport services. Cryopdp covers a portion of the healthcare temperature-controlled supply chain, including packaging, pick-pack kit preparation, premium services and specialty courier support. Cryopdp had 2019 revenues of approximately EUR 42 million ($50 million).
The acquisition is expected to close within 60 days (as reported on August 21, 2020), subject to customary closing conditions.
