Cytiva as well as Newark-based BioCentriq were awarded funding to accelerate bringing gene therapies to market as part of a grant round from the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL), a public-private partnership with a mission of ramping up biopharmaceutical innovation.

While viral clearance is a key regulatory requirement for all biopharmaceutical processes, it is a relatively new topic in cell and gene therapy. This project, which is being granted funding as part of NIIMBL’s $15.8 million initiative to drive biotech innovation through technology and workforce development, will involve the creation of a viral and exotoxin clearance platform in an adeno-associated virus (AAV) manufacturing process.

In a June 27 press release announcing the funding, the stakeholders said that their aim is to develop new standards that can be used for AAV and to advance the development and adoption of gene therapies.

“We are thrilled to be selected to work on this project at such a critical time for the industry,” said Haro Hartounian, CEO, BioCentriq. “Achieving robust and scalable viral clearance for one of the most commonly used viral vectors is a major step toward achieving true scalability and reducing cost of goods. We feel lucky to collaborate with such a committed organization like Cytiva in these efforts.”

In explaining the rationale for the collaboration, the stakeholders also noted the findings of Cytiva’s Global Biopharma Resilience Index, a survey of 1,250 industry executives and partners that found the category of R&D collaborations needs urgent attention.

BioCentriq and Cytiva officials say they are bucking the current trend and demonstrating the value that can be created by bringing different perspectives together.

“As pointed out in our 2023 Global Biopharma Resilience Index, collaborations are essential to solve the challenges of bringing future therapeutics to market,” said Emmanuel Abate, president, Genomic Medicine, Cytiva. “Cytiva and BioCentriq can bring the combined intellectual power of both organizations to develop the solutions needed to advance the AAV manufacturing process and the genomic medicine industry.”