UK biotech aims to cut costs with digital and robotics investment

Gene and cell therapy firm Oxford Biomedica is to invest £4 million to build digital and robotics capabilities that will help manufacture the next generation of cutting-edge therapies. The group will invest the money, supported by a £2 million grant from Innovate UK to upgrade its technology to improve analysis facilities, supply times and cost of goods. The goal is to increase capacity, reduce manufacturing costs, and reduce waste. Oxford Biomedica supplies the viruses used by Novartis in its CAR-T cell therapy Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel) after signing a deal worth up to $100 million. The biotech said that the project is aligned with the UK government’s Life Sciences Sector Deal, to ensure that the next wave of breakthrough treatments, innovative medical research and technologies, and highly skilled jobs are created in the country. In September, Oxford Biomedica said it would expand its manufacturing capacity at its headquarters in Oxford.