As part of the strategic collaboration, GE Healthcare’s Dharmacon will deliver early phase non-GMP services and CordenPharma later phase GMP, Olivier Loeillot, general manager of GE Healthcare’s Genomics and Cellular Research business told us.
GE Dharmacon is a part of the GE Healthcare Life Sciences division. The product line includes a portfolio of CRISPR-Cas9 reagents for targeted gene knockout and knock-in studies, as well as a suite of siRNA reagents for RNA interference.
“Together we will be the supplier capable of covering any Oligo customer needs, whatever quantity,” added Loeillot, who said it was clear the two should partner because both have a similar ambition to serve the fast growing market.
“CordenPharma brings into the collaboration the infrastructure, capacity and expertise in the cGMP manufacturing of Oligonucleotides to support customers from early clinical stage to commercial market supply,” CordenPharma’s international VP of global marketing and sales Michael Quirmbach told us.
According to Leoillot, Oligonucleotides were a promising new product family about 15 years ago, but have faced several clinical challenges. “It is about three years ago that the pharma customer pipeline really moved forward again, and to such an extent that there is a capacity shortage on the market, especially on the CDMO side,” he explained.
However, as Leoillot noted, several capacity increase investments have been announced recently, including one at CordenPharma’s Colorado facility – which is next door to GE Dharmacon, “making collaboration very efficient,” he said.
After working on a few successful common projects involving customer project tech transfers, Loeillot said the companies may decide to expand their services further, whether on the R&D or manufacturing/manufacturing-solutions side.