Recipharm to acquire Cobra Biomanufacturing

Swedish contract development and manufacturing firm Recipharm is to acquire Cobra Biomanufacturing, a UK-based cGMP compliant contract manufacturer of biopharmaceuticals.

Recipharm says the move will "more than double" its biologics offering and offer higher volumes of GMP production while providing access to new markets and technologies, including the production of proteins, viruses, DNA and cells for use in pre-clinical through to Phase II clinical trials.

Cobra Biomanufacturing is an established provider of DNA for gene therapy. The company has facilities in Oxford and Keele and the capability to utilise the MaxXpress maximum protein expression system, harnessing the power of UCOE technology, to deliver high productivity cell lines and strains and reduced manufacturing costs for its clients.

Cobra has also established a significant IP portfolio around its ORT-VAC oral vaccine technology, based on patented high plasmid maintenance technology.

Recipharm says long term it plans to provide a full suite of "one-stop shop" biologics capabilities, expanding on its current biomanufacturing services and its ability to fill and finish active pharmaceutical ingredients.

The company intends to retain Cobra Biomanufacturing's existing expertise and recruit additional personnel to bolster its newly combined biologics business.

"This operation will run alongside our existing biologics facility in Sweden and complements very well our established capabilities in small molecules. This I believe creates a very strong offering, enabling us to further develop our customer base amongst both emerging biotechnology and large pharmaceutical companies," said Thomas Eldered, ceo and managing director of Recipharm.

"In a combined organisation with Recipharm we will be able to compete very strongly and more effectively in the global biomanufacturing market," added Simon Saxby, ceo of Cobra.