By Fraiser Kansteiner – Fierce Pharma
Just a few weeks after Cognate BioServices moved to beef up its cell and gene therapy manufacturing, the company has attracted a buyer eager to tap that expertise.
Charles River Laboratories agreed to throw down $875 million cash for Cognate in a deal designed to create a one-stop-shop in cell and gene therapies. Cognate’s production muscle will complement Charles River’s own work in the field to bring development, testing and manufacturing under one umbrella, the companies said Wednesday.
The move comes shortly after Cognate laid out plans to upgrade manufacturing in Europe and the U.S. And with a slew of drugmakers advancing cell and gene therapies, Charles River figures demand for the CDMO’s services will only grow with time.
Charles River estimates the current market for Cognate’s manufacturing operations—mainly in cell therapy and plasmid production—is somewhere in the vicinity of $1.5 billion now and could grow at least 25% annually for the next five years.