LabVantage Names New CEO; Raybow Plans $15.8-M Expansion
The latest from CDMOs, CMOs, and suppliers featuring LabVantage Solutions, Raybow, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Wacker, and JSR Life Sciences.
Chemical/Chemical API Manufacturing
Raybow To Expand Operations with $15.8 M Investment
Raybow USA, the North American unit of Raybow Pharmaceutical, a Taizhou, China-based CDMO of intermediates and active pharmaceutical ingredients, has announced plans to expand its operations in North Carolina with a $15.8-million investment.
The company plans to add 74 jobs over the coming five years (as reported on March 22, 2021) and will invest $15.8 million at its facility in Brevard, North Carolina to triple both its capacity and workforce.
Raybow USA currently employs 24 people in Brevard and focuses on early-stage R&D and process research through Phase II clinical trials. New positions at Raybow USA will include research chemists, pilot-plant personnel, and supervisors.
Raybow USA was founded as PharmAgra Labs, a contract provider of custom synthesis, process development and analytical services, in 1999 by two North Carolina entrepreneurs. Raybow acquired PharmAgra in 2019.
Source: Raybow Pharmaceutical
Biologics Manufacturing
Thermo Fisher Launches New Human Plasma-Like Cell Culture Medium
Thermo Fisher Scientific has launched a cell-culture medium that mimics the metabolic profile of human plasma that is designed to provide researchers with a realistic view of cell growth within the human body.
The Gibco Human Plasma-like Medium contains the same salt concentrations found in human plasma, as well as the same concentrations of over 60 polar metabolites, such as amino acids, nucleic acids, sugars and small organic acids. By resembling the natural cellular environment found in the body, human plasma-like medium provides researchers the ability to study the impact of physiologically relevant cell media on their specific research applications, including cancer and other diseases. When supplemented with fetal bovine serum, human plasma-like medium can support cell growth and viability.
Source: Thermo Fisher Scientific
Wacker Renames Newly Acquired Genopis
Wacker Biotech US is the new name of Genopis, the San Diego, California-based plasmid DNA (pDNA) manufacturer that was acquired by Wacker, a Munich, Germany-based chemical and biomanufacturing company, in February (February 2021).
The acquisition includes a pDNA CDMO site and its associated business and approximately 40 employees. Wacker acquired 100% of the shares in Genopis from Helixmith Co and Medivate Partners, both based in Seoul, South Korea. The signing of the related agreement was followed by the closing in late February (February 2021) and now the acquisition’s new name: Wacker Biotech US.
Source: Wacker
General
LabVantage Names New CEO
LabVantage Solutions, a provider of laboratory informatics products and services, including laboratory information management systems, has appointed Mikael Hagstroem as Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
Mr. Hagstroem brings LabVantage almost 30 years of experience in digital transformation, which includes 25 years at the SAS Institute, a Cary, North Carolina-based developer of analytics software, where he became Executive Vice President of SAS and President of SAS International.
Mr. Hagstroem was also Partner at McKinsey & Company and Chief Operating Officer of McKinsey Analytics, which helps companies create and scale new delivery models for analytics and artificial intelligence (AI).
Most recently, Mr. Hagstroem was CEO and President at MetricStream, a San Jose, California-based provider of governance, risk, and compliance products and services. Here he led its transformation to a software as a service (SAAS model, launched its integrated risk- management platform, and integration of AI features into the platform.
Mr. Hagstroem is currently on the Board of Advisors of the AI Forum and has served as Chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Data-Driven Development, as a member of the Executive Committee of the US Council for International Business, and as an Executive Board member of the Atlantic Council. He is also an Independent Director of Planet Smart City, which integrates architectural, digital, and environmental solutions for high-quality low-cost housing.
Source: LabVantage Solutions
JSR Life Sciences Launches Corporate Venture Fund
JSR Life Sciences, a Sunnyvale, California-based drug-development and manufacturing company, has launched the JSR Life Sciences Corporate Venture Fund.
The fund is initially focusing on emerging life science companies with novel platforms and approaches for improving therapeutic outcomes and those with innovative technologies to support life science research, development, and manufacturing.
JSR will use the new fund to invest in multiple deals within the next few years (as reported on March 23, 2021).
Source: JSR Life Sciences
