Australian contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs), BioCina and NovaCina, have merged in a move to pool their biologic and small molecule production expertise and infrastructure.
BioCina, which specializes in process development and manufacturing for microbial, plasmid DNA, and mRNA-based treatments, began its life as Bresagen, a spinout of the University of Adelaide, Australia, in 1982. The investment firm Bridgewest Group eventually purchased the site from Pfizer in 2020 before setting up BioCina a year later.
Meanwhile, NovaCina’s fill-finish plant for producing biologics and small molecules began in Perth in 1987 before changing hands from Pfizer to Bridgewest in 2023.
BioCina CEO, Mark Womack, will lead the combined companies, with the BioCina name retained. The goal of the new entity is to give clients a more streamlined experience than when the two firms were separate.
“The industry is rapidly transforming and becoming increasingly more complex,” said Masood Tayebi, co-founder and CEO of Bridgewest, in a public statement.
“New drug developers along with experienced biopharma companies are looking for a trusted CDMO partner that will work hand-in-hand to drive their products to market with efficiency and streamlined regulatory approval.”
CDMO growth
The growing demand for outsourced manufacturing muscle in addition to climbing R&D investments is spurring the global market for CDMOs, which was worth $224.9bn in 2023 and is set to grow by 8.5% per year to $465.1bn by 2032.
Australia’s local CDMO sector is also seeing rapid growth with key advantages including its proximity to the Asia-Pacific market, which is seeing expanding demand for healthcare. The nation also offers a tax incentive program for CDMOs of up to 48.5% to motivate investments in the sector.
Another high-profile acquisition of an Australian CDMO was the takeover of Luina Bio by Glenn Haifer and Ampersand Capital Partners in 2022, where they rebranded the firm to AcuraBio and launched plans to expand its operations.
