Ilse Treurnicht

A key lesson from mAbs in the 90's was not to build too much capacity. Did we learn our lesson for CGT? Andy Lewin joined us recently on our new podcast 𝗟𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 where he recalls a lot of discussion in the late 90's about the demand for manufacturing capacity in mAb bioproduction. At that time there was a lot of demand for the production of clinical material, with the expectation that mAb candidates would flourish. Developers built a lot of manufacturing capacity to meet this demand. While many mAbs did become highly successful and could fill this capacity. Many others did not. This led a lot of developers to either just shut down this additional capacity, or sell off whole sites to CDMO's. 𝗗𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘃𝗶𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝘃𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗳𝘂𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴? Fast forward circa 2018 and the dilemma is the same. Huge demand for viral vector manufacturing, and not enough capacity. Many developers were wary, and rather than build they relied on CDMOs. 𝗦𝗼 𝘆𝗲𝘀, 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻 (𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗹𝘆𝗅). Unfortunately, the CDMOs didn't... they built a lot of manufacturing capability modeled on highly optimistic demand assumptions. That CDMOs like Exothera are closing up shop should not surprise us - we have seen it before. 25 years ago! Last time around CDMOs picked up the pieces of developers unwanted mAb capacity. Do you think anyone will pick up unwanted vector capacity now? Let me know in the comments below. P.S. if you want to see the full podcast, I will put the links in the comments.

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🚨 Another signal that gene therapy is far from slowing down. Kriya Therapeutics, Inc. Therapeutics just announced a $313M financing round—the 6th largest private biotech raise of the year. In today’s cautious funding climate, this kind of mega-round sends important signals about where the field is headed: 1️⃣ Investor confidence is rebounding. Despite questions about the commercial success of approved gene therapies, investors are clearly betting big on platforms with breadth and scalability. Kriya’s raise underscores that conviction. 2️⃣ Ophthalmology and metabolic disorders are rising to the forefront. Eye diseases like geographic atrophy offer localized delivery and clear clinical endpoints, while metabolic diseases (MASH, type 1 diabetes) represent expansion into larger, chronic disease markets. The field is no longer limited to ultra-rare conditions. 3️⃣ Scale is the new differentiator. In a capital-constrained environment, only a handful of well-funded companies can advance multiple programs in parallel. Kriya’s war chest positions it to be one of those platform players shaping the next chapter of gene therapy. ✨ For the gene therapy sector, this is a reminder: capital is available, but it’s flowing toward companies that show investors they can execute across programs and markets—not just single assets. What do you think—will we see more mega-rounds like this in 2025, or will capital consolidate even further into just a few players? #genetherapy #advancedtherapies #biotech #lifesciences #funding #313m https://lnkd.in/eEHS4K-u

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uBriGene Launches Clinical iPSC Banks to Accelerate Regenerative Medicine and Cell Therapy Development - https://lnkd.in/gVerwhFu uBriGene Biosciences Inc., a leading cell and gene therapy CDMO, is proud to announce the launch of its fully characterized, ready-to-use induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) banks. Developed using uBriGene’s proprietary RNA-LNP reprogramming technology, these iPSC banks are now available to support research, translational development, and clinical applications worldwide. “With our iPSC banks, clients can save 1-2 years and the uncertainty associated with donor cell sourcing and reprogramming,” said Dr. Xiulian Sun, CTO and Founder at uBriGene. “These banks are designed to accelerate preclinical and clinical workflows with regulatory confidence.” Read more at: https://lnkd.in/gVerwhFu #ipsc #ipscbank #stemcell

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