Among cell therapy companies, the pressure to manufacture innovation and optimization can incentivize them to seek third-party partners who possess technical, manufacturing, and regulatory expertise, such as cell therapy contract and development manufacturing organizations (CDMOs). Currently, there are an incredible 135 different CDMOs specializing in manufacturing and clinical trial support for cell and gene therapy developers.
Benefits of partnering with a cell therapy CDMO include scalability, speed to market, access to technical expertise without overhead costs, and cost efficiencies.
Cell Therapies CDMOs Around the World
With numerous cell and gene therapy (CGT) companies actively progressing products through clinical trials and toward commercialization, manufacturing capacity for CGT is becoming tight. Thus, we are seeing companies adjusting to this dynamic by signing supply agreements with CDMOs, building internal manufacturing capabilities, and improving manufacturing processes and efficiency by exploring new technologies.
The recent swell of cell and gene therapies (CGT) has created a crucial turning point in the history of modern medicine. Not only have new therapies such as CAR-T cell therapies produced a shift towards highly individualized medicine and a powerful new front in the war against cancer, but the speed of change with the CGT sector has taken the world by storm.
For this reason, we are seeing investment into or acquisition of existing cell and gene therapy CDMO companies occurring at breakneck speed, often for jaw-dropping price tags.
Billions Flows into Companies Offering CGT CDMO Services
As an example of this trend, Novo Holdings announced in February 2024 that it was acquiring the global CDMO Catalent for a staggering $16.5 billion in enterprise value. There have been other hefty M&A deals within the cell and gene therapy CDMO sector as well.
Industry behemoth Thermo Fisher Scientific snagged Brammer Bio for an astonishing $1.7 billion, while Catalent acquired Paragon Bioservices for an impressive $1.2 billion and MaSTherCell for $315 million.
Similarly, Charles River Laboratories (CRL) acquired Cognate BioServices for a price tag of $875 million, while Ascend Gene & Cell Therapies raised an impressive $132.5M to launch itself as a CDMO specializing in AVV-based gene therapies.
RoslinCT, a CDMO based in the UK, and Lykan Bioscience, a CDMO in Hopkinton, MA, merged to form an international CDMO specializing in advanced therapeutics—with a specialty in gene editing and iPSC capabilities.
In other news, Bayer opened a $250M cell therapy manufacturing facility in late 2023 to advance regenerative medicines on a global scale. Around the same time, Ajinomoto Co. acquired CDMO Forge Biologics for an astounding $620 million to enhance its Bio-Pharma Services business.
Despite all of this activity, this most recent acquisition by Novo Holdings dwarfs all other transactions to date. Given the billions of dollars flowing into this fast-paced industry, CDMOs to advance transformational regenerative medicines have proliferated in recent years, with the goal of breaking current bottlenecks that are constraining the production of these novel therapeutics.
In your opinion, what role do you think CDMOs should play in cell therapy manufacturing? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
To gain immediate access to all known cell and gene therapy CMDOs, claim the “Global Database of Cell and Gene Therapy CMOs and CDMOs, 2024.”
