Merck Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Life Science Company Mirus Bio for US$ 600 million

"This strategic acquisition is a further building block for accelerating growth in the break-through technologies of the future"

24-May-2024 - Merck has signed a definitive agreement to acquire life science company Mirus Bio for US$600million (around €550million). Based in Madison, Wisconsin, USA, Mirus Bio is a specialist in the development and commercialization of transfection reagents. Transfection reagents, such as Mirus Bio's ...

Solvias to Build Biologics and Cell & Gene Therapy Testing Center in Research Triangle Park

Expanding analytical service capabilities for life science companies developing advanced treatments for cancer and rare diseases

08-May-2024 - Solvias announced that it is expanding its global network of laboratory testing centers with a new biotech site in Research Triangle Park, N.C. It is the company's latest investment to expand its analytical testing services supporting life science organizations with the growing number of cell and ...

WACKER Expands Production Capacity for Biopharmaceuticals in San Diego

Wacker Biotech US is expanding its mRNA and protein production

07-May-2024 - As part of its growth strategy for the BIOSOLUTIONS life-science division, WACKER is increasing capacities in the field of biopharmaceuticals for advanced therapies. Wacker Biotech US, a subsidiary specializing in the fermentative production of plasmid DNA (pDNA), is expanding its mRNA and ...

Bayer and Mammoth Biosciences to Collaborate on Novel Gene Editing Technology

Mammoth to receive upfront payment of USD 40 million, and potential future milestone payments of more than one billion USD upon successful achievement

11-Jan-2022 - Bayer AG and Mammoth Biosciences, Inc., which is harnessing the diversity of nature to power the next-generation CRISPR products, announced a strategic collaboration and option agreement for the use of Mammoth’s CRISPR systems to develop in vivo gene-editing therapies. Mammoth Biosciences’ ...

Charles River Laboratories Acquires Distributed Bio

05-Jan-2021 - Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. announced that it acquired of Distributed Bio, Inc. on December 31, 2020. The acquisition marks the culmination of an exclusive partnership between these companies that was initiated in October 2018. Based in South San Francisco, California, ...

Merck Boosts Commercial Viral Vector and Gene Therapy Manufacturing Capacity

New, € 100 million facility will more than double existing production capacity

22-Apr-2020 - Merck announced a second Carlsbad, California, U.S.A.-based facility for its BioReliance® viral and gene therapy service offering. The new, €100 million commercial facility is expected to open next year. “Viral vector manufacturing has transitioned from a niche industry to the cornerstone of the ...

Elevated hormone flags liver problems in mice with methylmalonic acidemia

Study findings can immediately be applied to human patients with the disease

11-Dec-2018 - Researchers have discovered that a hormone, fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), is extremely elevated in mice with liver disease that mimics the same condition in patients with methylmalonic acidemia (MMA), a serious genomic disorder. Based on this finding, medical teams treating patients with ...

Gene therapy via skin protects mice from lethal cocaine doses

19-Sep-2018 - There are no approved medications to treat either cocaine addiction or overdose. Frequent users tend to become less and less sensitive to the drug, leading to stronger or more frequent doses. The typical result is addiction. Exposure to the drug, or to drug-associated cues, even after long ...

Nanoscale virus delivers peptide drugs to cells, tissues

11-Jan-2018 - By chipping away at a viral protein, Rice University scientists have discovered a path toward virus-like, nanoscale devices that may be able to deliver drugs to cells. The protein is one of three that make up the protective shell, called the capsid, of natural adeno-associated viruses (AAV). By ...

Do not try CRISPR at home

Urgent warning from FDA

13-Dec-2017 - Gene therapy is the administration of genetic material to modify or manipulate the expression of a gene product or to alter the biological properties of living cells for therapeutic use. Gene therapies offer the potential to treat diseases or conditions for which no or few treatments exist. They ...