Avid Bioservices Announces Expansion into Viral Vector Development and Manufacturing Services for Cell and Gene Therapy
October 14 2021 - 8:05AM
Avid Bioservices, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDMO), a dedicated biologics
contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) working
to improve patient lives by providing high quality development and
manufacturing services to biotechnology and pharmaceutical
companies, today announced that the company is expanding its CDMO
service offering into the rapidly growing cell and gene therapy
market. As part of this effort, the company is constructing a
world-class, purpose-built 53,000 sq. ft. viral vector development
and CGMP manufacturing facility in Costa Mesa, CA, approximately
five miles from Avid’s existing operations in Tustin, CA.
Additionally, Avid has appointed Drew Brennan, an experienced CDMO
business development executive as general manager of viral vector
technologies to lead its expansion into the cell and gene therapy
market. Avid’s decision to expand its service
offering into viral vector development and manufacturing is driven
by continued strong growth in the cell and gene therapy market
combined with the CDMO industry’s overall lack of proven,
high-quality CGMP manufacturing expertise and capacity for viral
vectors. With more than 16 years of experience in commercial
manufacturing of biologics underpinned by a strong quality ethos
and a customer-centric approach to doing business, Avid offers a
strong value proposition to prospective customers in the cell and
gene therapy market. Based on current projections, the company
expects the entire new facility build out to take up to 18 months
at an estimated cost of approximately $65 million to $75 million.
The new facility’s analytical and process development laboratories
are expected to come online more rapidly, with the potential to be
operational within six-to-eight months.
This investment into viral vector services
follows Avid’s recent investments into growing its existing
biologics manufacturing capacity through ongoing expansions at its
Myford manufacturing facility. The expansion into viral vector
services, combined with the addition of the potential annual
revenue generating increases associated with the ongoing Myford
expansion, has the potential to bring the company’s total annual
revenue generating capacity to more than $350 million.
As newly appointed general manager of viral
vector technologies, Mr. Brennan will be responsible for overseeing
all business activities related to Avid’s expansion into the cell
and gene therapy market. He most recently spent more than a decade
in senior sales and operations positions at Novasep, a leading
provider of equipment and services in the fields of both small
molecule and biologics production and purification for the life
science and chemical industries. His tenure at Novasep culminated
in his serving as general manager for Novasep’s U.S. subsidiary,
with responsibility for all products including viral vector CDMO
services. In this role, Mr. Brennan was credited with driving the
significant growth of Novasep’s U.S. CDMO services business
including the securing of several major viral vector CDMO contracts
leading to the construction of new commercial facilities located in
Belgium. With a master’s degree in cell biology and a bachelor’s
degree in chemical engineering, he began his career developing
perfusion bioreactors for monoclonal antibody production before
transitioning into sales and business development positions,
including the role of senior sales engineer for Millipore
Corporation.
“With our extremely strong track record of
quality in manufacturing, our stellar regulatory inspection
history, and our customer-centric business approach, we feel that
Avid is in a strong position to add significant value to innovator
companies in gene and cell therapy that are struggling to find
reliable and collaborative outsourcing partners,”
said Nicholas Green, president and chief executive officer
of Avid Bioservices. “We believe that the addition of viral
vector services is a natural extension of our existing traditional
biologics offering and provides another avenue for growth by
supporting the development and manufacturing of these innovative
therapies. We are also thrilled to add Drew to our team to lead our
business efforts in the cell and gene therapy market. His
impressive track record in this area, combined with the deep
relationships that he has developed throughout the industry, will
strongly position this new service offering for success.”
“I am thrilled to join the team at Avid
Bioservices that maintains such an impressive reputation for high
quality commercial manufacturing of biologic products. As more cell
and gene therapy programs reach late-stage clinical development
and, ultimately, product approval, the need for highly capable and
reliable CDMO partners will only increase. I strongly believe that
Avid will be well positioned to offer innovators a superior
alternative for the manufacturing of their viral vectors,” said Mr.
Brennan.
About Avid
Bioservices, Inc.
Avid Bioservices is a dedicated contract
development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) focused on
development and CGMP manufacturing of biologics. The company
provides a comprehensive range of process development, CGMP
clinical and commercial manufacturing services for the
biotechnology and biopharmaceutical industries. With 28 years of
experience producing monoclonal antibodies and recombinant
proteins, Avid's services include CGMP clinical and commercial drug
substance manufacturing, bulk packaging, release and stability
testing and regulatory submissions support. For early-stage
programs the company provides a variety of process development
activities, including upstream and downstream development and
optimization, analytical methods development, testing and
characterization. The scope of our services ranges from
standalone process development projects to full development and
manufacturing programs through commercialization.
www.avidbio.com
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release which are not
purely historical, including statements regarding Avid Bioservices,
Inc.'s intentions, hopes, beliefs, expectations, representations,
projections, plans or predictions of the future, are
forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking
statements involve risks and uncertainties including, but not
limited to, the risk that the company may experience delays in the
construction of viral vector facility, the risk that expanding into
a new biologics manufacturing segment may distract senior
management’s focus on the company’s existing operations and/or its
current expansion of the Myford facility, the risk that the company
may experience delays in hiring qualified individuals into the
viral vector business, the risk that the company may experience
delays in engaging initial customers for the viral vector business,
and the risk that the viral vector business may not become
profitable for several years, if ever . Our business could be
affected by a number of other factors, including the risk factors
listed from time to time in our reports filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission including, but not
limited to, our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year
ended April 30, 2021 and subsequent quarterly reports on Form
10-Q, as well as any updates to these risk factors filed from time
to time in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. We caution investors not to place undue reliance on the
forward-looking statements contained in this press release, and we
disclaim any obligation, and do not undertake, to update or revise
any forward-looking statements in this press release except as may
be required by law.
Contacts:
Stephanie Diaz (Investors)
Vida Strategic Partners
415-675-7401
sdiaz@vidasp.com
Tim Brons (Media)
Vida Strategic Partners
415-675-7402
tbrons@vidasp.com
Avid Bioservices (NASDAQ:CDMO)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Avid Bioservices (NASDAQ:CDMO)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024