A Chinese-American CDMO has raised $60 million but doesn’t intend to hold onto the cash very long. Joinn Biologics says it will use most of it to build a plant to increase its biologics production, including its cell lines for new generation drugs.
The 100,000-liter facility will be built in China, Joinn said in an announcement, greatly expanding its capacity. It currently has 2,000 liters of capacity at a plant in Richmond, California, and 1,400 liters of capacity at a plant in China.
Joinn says having approved facilities in both the U.S. and China can help drugmakers get dual approvals.
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Join got its money from private equity funds in China. Private equity has been pouring money into biologic CDMOs as the development of gene therapies and bottlenecks in getting efficient cell lines have slowed developments, raising demand and so the potential payoff.
Earlier this year, Ampersand Capital Partners sold Brammer Bio for $1.7 billion to Thermo Fisher Scientific, giving Thermo Fisher entry into the growing gene and cell therapy market. Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Brammer has expertise in viral vector manufacturing. It then turned around and invested some of its proceeds into two other small biologic CDMOs.
