WuXi AppTec, provider of R&D and manufacturing-enabling services in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries, has completed the acquisition of OXGENE, a UK-based contract research and development organisation that designs and develops scalable gene therapy technologies. This acquisition enables WuXi AppTec to offer its customers end-to-end support in the creation and development of cell and gene therapies for patients in need worldwide.
OXGENE will become a fully-owned subsidiary of WuXi Advanced Therapies, WuXi AppTec’s cell and gene therapy Contract Testing, Development and Manufacturing Organization (CTDMO) business unit.
WuXi ATU’s integrated platforms are used in the development, testing, manufacturing, and commercialisation of cell and gene therapy products and aim to accelerate their time to market.
OXGENE, which will retain its name, will be WuXi ATU’s first facility in Europe and will further enhance these industry-leading capabilities.
“OXGENE is proud to have invented a range of next-generation platforms that address the complexities of viral vector manufacturing for gene and cell therapies,” said Dr. Ryan Cawood, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of OXGENE. “We are excited to join the team at WuXi ATU and to work together to scale up our technologies as a combined business, which will strengthen and broaden our service offerings for customers, improving by orders of magnitude the scale and cost of bringing cell and gene therapies to market. The benefits will be significant for the industry and for patients worldwide.”
“We are delighted to welcome OXGENE to WuXi ATU,” said Dr. David Chang, Chief Executive Officer of WuXi ATU. “By combining WuXi ATU’s world-class cell and gene therapy CTDMO platform with OXGENE’s innovative capabilities, we will be able to provide transformative solutions for our customers. This business combination represents a significant step in our ongoing effort to enable our customers and partners worldwide to deliver more effective and accessible advanced therapies to patients globally.”
