Thermo Fisher Scientific Completes €725 Million Acquisition of Henogen to Expand Viral Vector Manufacturing Capabilities

Compiled by Keke

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Completion of Acquisition of Henogen, Novasep’s Viral Vector Manufacturing Business in BelgiumRecently, Thermo Fisher Scientific announced the completion of its acquisition of Henogen, the viral vector manufacturing business of Novasep, a service and technology provider in the life sciences industry, based in Belgium. The transaction was closed for €725 million in cash.

This is the latest news on Thermo Fisher Scientific’s expansion into the gene and cell therapy sector. In March 2019, Thermo Fisher Scientific acquired Brammer Bio for $1.7 billion. Brammer Bio, a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) specializing in the production of viral vectors for gene and cell therapies, is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

A month later, Thermo Fisher Scientific announced plans to invest $50 million in its production facility in St. Louis County, United States, with the aim of expanding biopharmaceutical manufacturing capacity. Following the expansion, the plant located at the interchange of Interstate 70 and Interstate 170 added 64,000 square feet, doubling the facility’s production capacity. Prior to this, Thermo Fisher Scientific had acquired Patheon, also a CDMO, for $7.2 billion in August 2017.

In July 2019, Thermo Fisher Scientific signed an agreement with Amicus Therapeutics that underscored this point. Under the agreement, Thermo Fisher provided Amicus with immediate clinical and commercial manufacturing capabilities, as well as capabilities supporting Amicus’s intrathecal AAV gene therapy program for Batten disease. The transaction comprised three components: first, the Batten disease program, involving the transfer to and development by Thermo Fisher’s viral vector business of R&D manufacturing technologies and capabilities related to CLN6, CLN3, and other potential Batten disease programs; second, the CLN6 Batten disease gene therapy; and third, a planned collaboration to develop platform manufacturing capabilities for a broader AAV gene therapy portfolio.

Industry reports indicate that more than 300 gene and cell therapies are currently under development, all of which require resources for viral vector manufacturing at various scales. Some vaccines, such as the COVID-19 vaccines developed by Johnson & Johnson and by AstraZeneca in collaboration with the University of Oxford, utilize other types of viruses to deliver the genetic material or other viral antigens of the COVID-19 vaccine into individual cells, thereby enabling the immune system to learn to recognize the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Taking AstraZeneca’s vaccine as an example, it employs a chimpanzee adenovirus. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine utilizes a weakened version of adenovirus serotype 26, a common cold virus. Gene therapies and many cell therapies also employ various viruses, typically adeno-associated viruses (AAV), to deliver genetic material into the body.

Novasep’s viral vector manufacturing business operates two facilities in Seneffe and Gosselies, Belgium, featuring over 7,000 square feet of state-of-the-art clinical and commercial manufacturing capacity.

According to reports, Henogen’s business will become part of Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Pharmaceutical Services business, which falls under its Laboratory Products and Services segment.

Novasep has been established for over 20 years, with approximately 400 employees and an estimated total revenue of around $95 million in 2020.

Reference Source: Thermo Fisher Takes Deep Dive into Cell and Gene Therapy with Viral Vector Business Buy