Partnership to Support GentiBio’s Cell Therapy Pipeline with AAV Process Development, Scale Up and GMP Manufacturing Services
BOSTON, MA, SEATTLE, WA, and COLUMBUS, OH, July 15, 2021—GentiBio, Inc., an emerging biotherapeutics company developing best-in-class engineered regulatory T cells programmed to treat autoimmune, alloimmune, autoinflammatory, and allergic diseases, and Forge Biologics, a cell and gene therapy-focused contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), announced a strategic development and manufacturing partnership today to advance GentiBio’s unique immune tolerance platform.
Forge will provide adeno-associated viral (AAV) vector process and analytical development, scale-up engineering and GMP manufacturing services for GentiBio’s engineered Tregs therapeutic candidates. The program will employ both Forge’s Blaze Vector™ production platform and HEK 293 Suspension Ignition Cells™ to facilitate GentiBio’s development process. All development and GMP activities will occur at The Hearth, Forge’s 175,000 ft2 gene therapy GMP production facility in Columbus, Ohio.
“We are thrilled to partner with Forge Biologics and their experienced team to further develop our lead engineered Treg program and take a critical step in advancing our therapies to patients in need,” said Andy Walker, Ph.D., co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of GentiBio. “Forge offers a broad array of services ranging from process development to GMP manufacturing, making them a strong partner for GentiBio’s cell therapies with capacity to support GentiBio as we advance programs through clinical development.”
Forge’s Hearth is the home of a state-of-the-art cGMP facility dedicated to AAV viral vector manufacturing and will host end-to-end manufacturing services to accelerate cell and gene therapy programs from preclinical through clinical and commercial stage manufacturing. Forge offers product and analytical development services, cGMP manufacturing and regulatory support services.
“Our team is excited to embark on this partnership with GentiBio to meet their viral vector manufacturing needs and help them advance to clinical trials,” said Timothy J. Miller, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer, President, and Co-Founder of Forge. “Forge is committed to providing quality AAV manufacturing to all stages of program development, and this partnership highlights the Forge team’s capabilities to help innovators such as the GentiBio team on their path to success.”