Pfizer’s Half-Billion-Dollar Manufacturing Facility Demonstrates Commitment to Gene Therapy
Pfizer recently announced its plans to invest $500 million into its Sanford gene therapy manufacturing operations. This expansion would create 300 new jobs, and Pfizer’s biopharmaceuticals group president noted the company “passionately believes in gene therapy.”
This passion for gene therapy, which is seemingly shared with other large biopharma companies, is leading to substantial commitments of resources to gene therapy. This new era of cell and gene-based medicine has made its way to the mainstream for treatment of serious diseases.
“It’s great news that large pharmaceutical companies are taking notice of the potential that gene therapies have for changing lives and changing the world of medicine,” said Rodney Varner, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Genprex, a clinical-stage gene therapy company. “We have seen a flurry of major industry players making acquisitions and strategic collaborations. It is impressive to see large pharmaceutical companies allocating resources that will enhance their capability to provide patients with these potentially life-altering therapies.”
Gene therapy manufacturing continues to rise to the top as one of the key determinants of success. Building safe, reliable and scalable processes for manufacturing gene therapies takes considerable time and resources. Companies such as Pfizer, who are adding more manufacturing capabilities, will enable industry advancement and progress for all gene therapy companies. As other big pharma companies follow suit, the advancements for manufacturing gene therapies will only continue.
Genprex has made manufacturing one of its top priorities since its IPO in 2018. Since that time, the company has been working through contract manufacturers to transfer and scale up its manufacturing processes. The company recently announced that its manufacturing partner, Aldevron, has completed a significant step in manufacturing for its Oncoprex™ clinical development program with the successful production of TUSC2 (Tumor Suppressor Candidate 2) plasmid DNA.To learn more about the company’s initial drug candidate, please visit the Technology page on Genprex’s website.