Pharmaceutical Outsourcing Q3 2023 - 39

INDUSTRY NEWS
SECTION TITLE
Sygnature Discovery Acquires
NuChem Sciences
Development Bank of Canada; I would like to extend my thanks to
all involved. "
Sygnature Discovery announced the acquisition of Canada-based
NuChem Sciences. This acquisition cements Sygnature as one of the
world's largest players in integrated drug discovery phase solutions
and advances their vision to become the global market leader.
The transaction creates a significant competitive advantage for
Sygnature as it expands its global footprint and business operations to
leverage discovery expertise in the North American market. Together,
Sygnature Discovery and NuChem are creating a global force that
delivers drug discovery expertise to support customer programmes
from target validation through to candidate selection, combining the
best of North American and UK operations.
Marc Lebel, Pharm. D., President and Chairman at NuChem
Sciences said: " Our company goals and values fit perfectly with
those of Sygnature in becoming a global leader in drug discovery
services. We are delighted to become an integral part of the
Sygnature Group, allowing us to leverage our deep scientific
expertise and presence across North America and Europe, to the
benefit of customers and employees. "
NuChem Sciences, a leading discovery CRO in the North American
market, employs over 300 staff across centres of excellence in
Montreal and Quebec City, Canada, where the company will continue
to operate and drive further market expansion across North America.
Founded in 2011, NuChem Sciences delivers expert integrated and
standalone discovery solutions across medicinal, synthetic, scaleup,
process and computational chemistry, as well as DMPK, in vitro
biology and in vivo pharmacology. Additionally, the company
provides protein chemistry services and offers crucial knowledgebased
expertise in structural biology at the initial stages of drug
discovery to global biotech and pharmaceutical companies.
Following this acquisition, Sygnature Discovery will have more than
1,000 staff across 53 nationalities, including over 900 scientists who
work on standalone and integrated drug discovery programmes for
pharma, biotech, VCs, and NFPs. Founded in 2004, the company has
successfully delivered over 40 novel drug candidates into pre-clinical
development and 22 into clinical trials, with its scientists named on
over 170 patent applications.
Dr Simon Hirst, CEO at Sygnature Discovery, commented: " This
acquisition represents a pivotal milestone in the Sygnature
growth plan, allowing us to deliver better discovery solutions to
customers around the world. The addition of NuChem Sciences
greatly enhances Sygnature Discovery's offering, making us a
highly differentiated and integrated drug discovery partner with
unrivalled scale and range. NuChem is a like-minded business
that complements Sygnature's existing services, towards our joint
mission of improving the world's health. "
In addition, Marc Lebel commented that " this acquisition could not
have taken place without the support and partnership of Amorchem,
Investissement Québec, Fonds de solidarité FTQ and the Business
Kincell Bio Launches with $36M to
Make Cell Therapy Development and
Manufacturing More Accessible
Kincell Bio, a CDMO focused on cell therapies, received $36 million in
new funding. Kineticos Ventures led Kincell's launch funding.
Kincell is a spinout of Inceptor Bio's CMC, a manufacturing and
quality organization formed to accelerate innovator research and
clinical trials. Kincell acquires a facility and a fully staffed team based
at its Gainesville site, with plans to grow in Gainesville, as well as in
additional key markets, such as Research Triangle Park (RTP), Boston
and other customer locations.
Kincell offers analytical development, process development,
CMC consulting and early-stage GMP manufacturing focusing
on immune cell therapies, including autologous and allogeneic
Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR)-T, CAR-NK and CAR-M programs.
The Company plans to establish in-house mRNA development
and additional GMP manufacturing capacity while forging trusted
partnerships for viral vector and plasmid DNA supply to support all
cell engineering processes.
Shailesh Maingi, founder of Kineticos Ventures and of Inceptor Bio,
will serve as chair of the Kincell Board of Directors.
" Kincell represents a significant step forward in bridging the gap
between laboratory research and clinical development of cell
therapies, " said Mr. Maingi. " By addressing the manufacturing
challenges faced by early-stage innovators, Kincell is playing a vital
role in accelerating the progress of cell therapy innovation. We are
excited to support their mission to make cell therapy manufacturing
more accessible and streamlined, ultimately bringing life-changing
treatments to patients in need. "
Kincell will be led by Chief Executive Officer Bruce Thompson, Ph.D.,
who will also serve on the Board of Directors. Dr. Thompson brings
over 20 years of CMC strategy, product development and cell therapy
manufacturing experience, with previous cell and gene therapy
manufacturing and development leadership positions at National
Resilience, Inc. (Resilience), Lyell Immunopharma, Fred Hutchinson
Cancer Center and Pfizer.
" Kincell is at the forefront of innovative cell therapy manufacturing,
and I am honored to lead this exceptional team. Our mission is to
enable early-stage biotech companies to bring their life-changing
therapies to patients by providing accessible and high-quality
manufacturing services, " said Dr. Thompson. " With our technologyforward
approach and focus on immune cell therapies, we are
poised to accelerate the advancement of cell therapies from bench
to bedside. I am excited about the potential impact we can make in
the field and look forward to collaborating with our partners to drive
innovation and improve patients' lives. "
pharmoutsourcing.com | 39 | July/August/September 2023
http://www.pharmoutsourcing.com
Pharmaceutical Outsourcing Q3 2023

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