AGC Biologics has named Tadashi Murano, president of its AGC Life Science Company, as interim CEO while the company searches for a permanent CEO. Murano succeeded Patricio Massera, who stepped down June 30. Also in June, AGC completed an approximately $200 million, 19,000 square-meter (204,514 square-foot) manufacturing building at its Copenhagen campus, doubling the site’s single-use bioreactor capacity for mammalian services and allowing it to produce 150 more batches of drug product each year.
And Essential Pharma’s rare disease business signed a strategic agreement with AGC Biologics to produce Hu1418K322A (Hu14.18), a humanised monoclonal antibody for the treatment of high-risk neuroblastoma. The Danaher-owned provider of custom development and manufacturing services agreed in May to partner with Acuitas Therapeutics, which develops delivery systems for nucleic acid therapeutics based on lipid nanoparticles (LNPs).
The partnership is designed to help Aldevron expand its capabilities in messenger RNA (mRNA) LNP encapsulation by incorporating Acuitas’ proprietary LNP encapsulation platform, increasing Aldevron’s services and capabilities as an mRNA sequence-to-vial custom manufacturer. Aldevron is planning a $200 million-plus expansion of its building in Eden Prairie, MN, that would add 96,244 square feet to its existing 350,000-square-foot facility. The project, set for completion in 2026, would add to the company’s manufacturing, warehouse, and office space.
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