Issue 221
According to a new report, published by the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia, the city is now home to nearly 10 percent of the world’s cell and gene therapy companies. This equates to an estimated 7,000 jobs and roughly $362 million in federal grants and funding to the local area.
What’s more, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania are ranked among the top 10 institutions worldwide, with the largest numbers of gene therapy patents. The number of companies that have set up laboratories, offices or campuses in Philadelphia has doubled since 2018.
“What seemed like cutting edge technology that was hard to comprehend 10 years ago is now creating communities and is now creating the jobs,” said Jason Bannon, chamber senior vice president of marketing and communications, to WHYY. “Reports like this…suggest where there are currents, where there are things developing that are really worth building on,” he added.
What do you think Philadelphia's success means for the future of the advanced medicine industry, both locally and globally? Let me know: [email protected].
Until next week,
Jamie Irvine | Associate Editor
Essential Reading
Merck’s multi-million-dollar deal
Merck has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Mirus Bio for $600 million – a move intended to increase its presence in the gene therapy manufacturing field. Pursuant to the transition terms, Merck will gain access to transfection reagents, such as TransIT-VirusGEN, and bolster its capacity in viral vector manufacturing. “This acquisition, combined with our comprehensive portfolio, enables us to provide a truly differentiated and integrated offering to meet the growing demand for these life-saving therapies,” said Matthias Heinzel, Member of the Executive Board of Merck and CEO Life Science, in a press release. The companies expect to complete the deal in the third quarter of this year – once they gain regulatory clearance.
The perils of paper
In a recent article with The Medicine Maker, Matt Todd, Head of Digital and Data at Ori Biotech, suggested that drugmakers who adopt and initiate automation and smart manufacturing early will see more significant impact in their advanced therapy development and commercialization. In his view, “Early adoption lays the groundwork for resilient manufacturing and logistics models, robust and streamlined scale-up, and the flexibility to constantly learn and improve.” He also discusses the limitations of paper-based records: “A 1,000-page batch record isn’t so daunting when it represents millions of therapeutic mAb doses, but it’s a different story when the same type of paper record is required for each dose of an autologous cell-based therapy.” Read more
Worth Your Time...
Business
NIBRT opens new advanced therapies facility focused on increasing capacity and capability to conduct manufacturing-focused research and training in Dublin, Ireland.
Andelyn Biosciences selected as viral vector manufacturing partner for California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.
Autolomous announces license agreement with US-based Center for Breakthrough Medicines to provide digital solutions for streamlining and automating cell and gene therapy manufacturing.
Research
Scientists review various gene therapy approaches employed in preclinical and clinical studies for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.
Nature article explores data that suggests CAR-T technology could treat allergic asthma after single infusion prevented pathology for over a year in mice.
Researchers review latest developments of CAR T cell therapy in urinary system tumors – including kidney cancer, bladder cancer, and prostate cancer.
