The Center for Breakthrough Medicines, UPenn Boost Gene Therapies

The Center for Breakthrough Medicines (CBM) and the University of Pennsylvania Gene Therapy Program (GCP) recently collaborated to advance the discovery and manufacturing of gene therapies.

The five-year partnership will combine Penn’s knowledge and expertise in gene therapy development with CBM’s manufacturing capacity of advanced therapies to move therapeutics safely and rapidly from concept to clinic.

Small biotech firms, universities, and large pharmaceutical companies will advance gene therapies from discovery to First-In-Human (FIH) studies, with the potential for less risk and expense.

In recent years, multiple commercially sponsored clinical programs have utilized Penn’s gene therapy expertise, helping developers enter the field sooner with less risk and more confidence that the platform is scalable for later clinical stages and commercialization.

The overall goal of the partnership is to decrease development costs, timelines, and manufacturing Costs of Goods Sold (COGS), increasing accessibility for all patients.

“This agreement represents a giant leap forward for the Center for Breakthrough Medicines and its mission to accelerate the development and manufacturing of life-saving gene therapies,” Audrey Greenberg, co-founder of CBM, said in the announcement.  

“This partnership with the GTP at Penn enables our clients the potential to advance to Investigational New Drugs with a high-quality process, materials and analytical methods,” Greenberg continued.

Gene therapies can treat and cure both rare and non-rare hematological, ophthalmic, musculoskeletal, and neurologic diseases.

Under the partnership, CBM will be the only for-profit contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) with commercial rights to certain GTP’s gene therapy manufacturing platform, advanced analytics, and any future processes achieved through the collaboration.

Additionally, Penn will receive access to a best-in-class state-of-the-art GMP manufacturing partner with 700,000 planned square footage capacity plus a sponsored research agreement to continue advancing gene therapies.

Joerg Ahlgrimm, president and CEO of CBM, explained that the collaboration with the GTP at Penn will allow the company to offer advanced gene therapy manufacturing services under one roof regardless of where a program is in its development timeline.

This deal comes on the heels of Penn GTP’s expansion to the Discovery Labs’ campus, which creates a further alliance between the two organizations.