Swedish govt/industry boosting cell therapy and RNA production

A major deal was announced today as Flerie Invest, a biotech and pharma investment firm with offices in Stockholm and London, led a syndicate of investors in the $52 million acquisition of Charles River Laboratories’ (NYSE: CRL) DNA and protein manufacturing subsidiary Cobra Biologics Matfors AB, Sweden. The deal provides for potential contingent payments of up to an additional $25 million to Charles River, subject to certain adjustments.

The new entity, NorthX Biologics AB, will take over and expand the facility equipped to provide good manufacturing practices (GMP)-grade plasmid DNA and technical protein manufacture at commercial scale.

The Swedish Minister for Business, Industry and Innovation, Ibrahim Baylan, revealed in a press conference that the government will allocate resources to strengthen Sweden as a forerunner in advanced therapy medicinal products and vaccines, which will catalyse R&D and manufacturing partnerships across the Nordics, European Union and beyond. This will build upon existing capacities in the Swedish Life Science Industry.