Miltenyi Biotec, a global provider of products and services to advance biomedical research and cellular therapy headquartered in Germany, has bought the lentiviral vector manufacturing business and related assets of US company Lentigen Corporation for an undisclosed sum.
The acquisition of the US company's IP, process technologies and cGMP manufacturing facilities further expands Miltenyi Biotec's portfolio in cell and gene therapy. The Lentigen team will join Miltenyi Biotec, and operate through a newly formed, wholly owned US subsidiary, Lentigen Technology, based in Gaithersburg, MD.
'With the acquisition of the Lentigen assets, we have strengthened our comprehensive portfolio that will enable our current and future partners to proceed in cell therapies efficiently from preclinical testing through human studies to automated manufacturing for widespread commercial therapeutic use, all with a single strategic partner,' said Stefan Miltenyi, Chief Executive of Miltenyi Biotec.
'It is our goal at Miltenyi Biotec to become the major supplier of lentiviral vectors for cell and gene therapies, both for clinical research and at commercial scale.'
It is our goal at Miltenyi Biotec to become the major supplier of lentiviral vectors for cell and gene therapies
The company says lentiviral technology provides the most efficient method for delivering genetic material into cells to modulate their function, as demonstrated by recent clinical trials in genetic diseases and oncology indications utilizing lentivirus-modified chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells.
Lentigen Corporation has been renamed Opus Bio, and has been granted the rights to use lentiviral technology in specified therapeutic indications, for which Lentigen Technology will be the preferred manufacturing supplier.
These rights include Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR T-cell) therapies as well as treatments for single-gene diseases and disorders.
David Wetherell, Chairman of Lentigen Corporation, said: 'This transaction will provide Opus Bio with ongoing access to innovations in lentiviral vector and cell processing technologies, while allowing the company to commit further resources toward the advancement of its research and clinical development programmes.'
Opus Bio says it will make further announcements on the progress of its therapeutic pipeline over the coming months.
