South Ko­re­an drug­mak­er SK looks to take over Philly CD­MO's op­er­a­tions

The hold­ing com­pa­ny of a South Ko­re­an vac­cine mak­er is in the fi­nal talks to make an in­vest­ment in­to a US gene ther­a­py firm.

SK Bio­sciences is in the process of sign­ing a deal with the Cen­ter for Break­through Med­i­cines (CBM), a Philadel­phia-based CD­MO. If fi­nal­ized, the deal will come eight months af­ter SK’s takeover of the French gene and cell ther­a­py com­pa­ny Yposke­si.

With this move, SK takes it­self a step clos­er to es­tab­lish­ing a val­ue chain of syn­thet­ic and bio phar­ma­ceu­ti­cals in the US, Eu­rope and Asia by 2025, the com­pa­ny’s head of the in­vest­ment cen­ter Lee Dong-hoon said in a pre­sen­ta­tion. The CBM is known for its pro­duc­tion of plas­mid DNA. With SK’s in­vest­ment, it will ex­pand man­u­fac­tur­ing fa­cil­i­ty in the Cel­li­con Val­ley cell and gene ther­a­py clus­ter by 699,654 square feet.

Unlock this article instantly by becoming a free subscriber.

You’ll get access to free articles each month, plus you can customize what newsletters get delivered to your inbox each week, including breaking news.

SIGN UP LOG IN BECOME A PREMIUM SUBSCRIBER