Medical, Industry Outlook
PRNewswire | August 07, 2023
Ginkgo Bioworks the leading horizontal platform for cell programming and biosecurity, and the Government of the Republic of Panama's Gorgas Memorial Institute for Health Studies, today announced that they have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") with the intent to develop and implement new biosecurity capabilities in Latin America.
Ginkgo, through its biosecurity and public health unit, Concentric by Ginkgo, aims to support the Gorgas Institute as it builds Panama's foundational bioeconomy that will serve not only the country, but also the surrounding region. These efforts will bolster Panama's biosecurity infrastructure, giving the country key tools to detect, identify, and monitor current and future pathogens. It will also be Concentric's first Latin American program, as the company continues to expand operations internationally.
As part of the program, Concentric will collaborate with the Gorgas Institute to strengthen their current surveillance infrastructure for COVID-19, as well as other respiratory and enteric pathogens, leveraging Concentric's expertise in wastewater monitoring, lab enablement, and bioinformatics analysis and decision support.
The program is expected to operate in strategic locations that can help bolster both national and regional public health and security throughout Panama. These include, but are not limited to, wastewater surveillance in major urban centers like Panama City, as well as at ports-of-entry, including the border crossing in the Darien National Park and Tocumen International Airport (PTY).
By establishing these monitoring programs, Panama will become a critical node in Concentric's global network that collects data to help public health and national security officials detect and respond to emerging biological threats. The information captured from these programs is expected to play a key role in strengthening not only Panama's COVID-19 and novel pathogen detection infrastructure, but also provide key data for regional pandemic preparedness.
"We're honored to collaborate with the Republic of Panama to strengthen the region's health security capabilities through pathogen threat detection in Panama City and the Darien region," said Matt McKnight, General Manager, Biosecurity at Ginkgo Bioworks. "Robust bio-surveillance in Panama is critical not only for the health of the country, but also for the security of the Western Hemisphere, and I am confident this partnership will strengthen health security in the region and the world."
"These detection and monitoring programs are an important aspect of Panama's public health initiatives. We are excited to collaborate with Concentric on these important biosecurity programs," said Dr. Juan Miguel Pascale, General Director of Gorgas Memorial Institute for Health Studies.
About Ginkgo Bioworks
Ginkgo Bioworks is the leading horizontal platform for cell programming, providing flexible, end-to-end services that solve challenges for organizations across diverse markets, from food and agriculture to pharmaceuticals to industrial and specialty chemicals. Ginkgo's biosecurity and public health unit, Concentric by Ginkgo, is building global infrastructure for biosecurity to empower governments, communities, and public health leaders to prevent, detect and respond to a wide variety of biological threats.
About the Gorgas Memorial Institute for Health Studies
Gorgas Memorial Institute is the national reference laboratory and research institute of Panama, and the support arm of the Ministry of Health. Founded in 1928 in memory of Dr. William C. Gorgas who implemented public health measures that allowed the control of malaria and yellow fever enabling the construction of the Panama Canal, its research has been centered in the study of tropical diseases: leishmaniasis, malaria, yellow fever, Dengue, Zika and Chikungunya among other arbovirosis as well as the surveillance of Influenza and respiratory viruses and endemic agents such as Hantavirus, Venezuelan and Eastern Equine Encephalitis. During the last decade it has also been involved in HIV surveillance and in research of non-communicable diseases in the country.
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Cell and Gene Therapy, Diagnostics
Globenewswire | July 04, 2023
NorthX Biologics (‘NorthX’), a leading Nordic development and manufacturing organisation with a focus on advanced biologics, CGT (cell and gene therapy) and vaccines, announced today the successful acquisition of the Stockholm-based Clinical Trial Manufacturing unit from Valneva Sweden, significantly expanding capabilities.
The acquisition includes the transfer of a multi-purpose facility, situated in the Stockholm life science cluster, close to Karolinska University Hospital. In addition, 30 staff members who currently operate the facility will also join NorthX. The site and staff have a long history with extensive experience of serving both Valneva internally and also working with external customers on a contract development and manufacturing basis. With expertise in mammalian expression systems and viral vectors, the capabilities complement those of NorthX’s existing business of advanced microbial based manufacturing of proteins and plasmid DNA. The acquired unit excels in process development, scale up, GMP production, quality control analytics, and quality assurance/release and is capable of working with Biosafety Level (BSL) 2/2+ and BSL 3 organisms. With this expansion, NorthX enhances its capabilities and can offer comprehensive services to a wider range of clients globally.
Janet Hoogstraate, currently Managing Director of Valneva Sweden, will join the NorthX team. She commented, “I am very proud when looking back at what we have achieved within the unit over the past years and look forward with great enthusiasm to build on NorthX’s position as the go-to manufacturer of advanced biologics in Northern Europe.”
Helena Strigård, CEO of NorthX, said, “We are delighted to join forces with our new colleagues in Stockholm to bring new innovative treatments to tomorrow’s patients.”
Thomas Eldered, Chairman of NorthX, commented, “This strategic move marks a significant milestone in our growth journey and strengthens NorthX as Sweden’s Innovation Hub. We are now able to work with ATMPs and advanced biologics, including process development and manufacture for clinical trials and commercial requirements.”
ABOUT NORTHX BIOLOGICS
NorthX Biologics develops and manufactures advanced biologics and has over 30 years of GMP production experience. The team provides process development and GMP manufacturing services with expertise in plasmid DNA, mRNA, proteins, cell therapy and other advanced biologics. Headquartered in the heart of Sweden, the team serves customers worldwide. In 2021 NorthX was recognised and appointed as the national innovation hub for GMP manufacture of advanced therapeutics and vaccines by the Swedish Government and Vinnova, Sweden's innovation agency. NorthX has the ambition to become a leading cell and gene therapy manufacturer and partner of choice for innovative drug development companies. For more information visit www.nxbio.com.
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Medical, Industry Outlook
PRNewswire | August 14, 2023
ERS Genomics Limited ('ERS') is pleased to announce a new license agreement with Santa Cruz Biotechnology Inc ('SCBT,'). This is a non-exclusive licensing agreement granting SCBT access to the ERS CRISPR/Cas9 patent portfolio.
ERS founder, Dr. Emmanuelle Charpentier, won the 2020 Nobel Prize for the discovery of CRISPR/Cas9. Consequently, the ERS patent portfolio is the most comprehensive collection of proprietary rights to this gene editing technology.
Santa Cruz Biotechnology, headquartered in Dallas, has earned its place as a world leader in the biomedical research market, boasting a remarkable thirty-year track record of relentless innovation. With a specific focus on research tools and reagents, including monoclonal antibodies, biochemicals, labware, and now CRISPR products, SCBT has consistently demonstrated its commitment to advancing scientific exploration.
Commenting on the deal with ERS, Santa Cruz Biotechnology representative Dr. John R. Stephenson, President and CEO, had the following statement 'CRISPR/Cas9 technology is an exciting advancement for the scientific community. This technology has greatly expanded the possibilities of research. Santa Cruz Biotechnology offers Knock-Out, Activator and Nickase CRISPR products to most human and mouse protein encoding genes. The CRISPR product line complements our well established monoclonal antibody product line.
Eric Rhodes, CEO, ERS Genomics was equally positive about the new relationship: 'Santa Cruz has an established and impressive reputation for making innovative solutions accessible to scientists. This fully aligns with our core mission of advancing scientific progress and unlocking the full potential of CRISPR/Cas9 in our industry.'
Financial details of the agreement are not being disclosed.
About Santa Cruz Biotechnology Inc
Santa Cruz Biotechnology is a world leader in the development of products for the biomedical research market. Over the past thirty years, the Company has focused on the ongoing development of research monoclonal antibodies, biochemicals, labware and CRISPR products. Santa Cruz Biotechnology has the highest commitment to quality and customer service.
About ERS Genomics
ERS Genomics is a biotechnology company based in Dublin, Ireland. The company was formed to provide broad access to the foundational CRISPR/Cas9 intellectual property held by Dr. Emmanuelle Charpentier. Non-exclusive licenses are available for research and sale of products and services across multiple fields including research tools, kits, reagents; discovery of novel targets for therapeutic intervention; cell lines for discovery and screening of novel drug candidates; GMP production of healthcare products; companion animal and livestock health; production of industrial materials such as enzymes, biofuels and chemicals; and synthetic biology. ERS holds over 100 patents worldwide.
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