Akron, Cognate partner to offer more complete manufacturing services for gene therapies
The companies will continue to operate as separate entities, with both companies further developing their core competencies to advance new cell therapy-based treatments from workbench to the clinic.
For Cognate, these competencies include cGMP manufacturing, scale up, validation and process development through specialized infrastructure and expertise to support clients through all aspects of cell-based drug development up to and including commercialization. Akron’s specialties include the production and distribution of validated raw materials and solutions to cell therapy clients, as well as innovating new products and technologies for the regenerative medicine space.
Akron Biotech founder and CEO Claudia Zylberberg, said, “This partnership is a unique opportunity to integrate the offerings of our two companies to meet the growing needs of the industry by strategically reducing the cost of goods through enabling solutions and procurement of raw materials in a cost-efficient manner for our customers and Cognate clients.”
Northwest Biotherapeutics previously agreed with Cognate to begin a large-scale expansion of the manufacturing, storage, handling and distribution of its personalized immuno-therapies for solid tumors.
J. Kelly Ganjei, CEO of Cognate BioServices, added, “We believe that offering a more full service integration with specific key supply chain demands provides us and our clients a competitive advantage in this field.”