KBI Biopharma Expands Its Services to Include Cell Therapy Manufacturing, Acquires Houston Area Facility

KBI Biopharma Expands Its Services to Include Cell Therapy Manufacturing, Acquires Houston Area Facility

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC / Feb. 1, 2017 – KBI Biopharma, Inc. (KBI) has acquired the manufacturing and laboratory assets of Opexa Therapeutics, Inc. and has assumed Opexa’s lease for a 10,200 sq. ft. cGMP manufacturing facility in The Woodlands, Texas, effective February 1, 2017. This acquisition provides fully equipped facilities for the development and manufacture of clinical stage cellular therapy products, including three ISO7 cGMP (current Good Manufacturing Practice) manufacturing suites, extensive flow cytometry and analytical infrastructure, and proven logistics and warehousing operations. Under Opexa management, the facility successfully manufactured autologous cell therapy products for 5 clinical trials, including two large (150 patients and 190 patients) Phase 2b trials.

KBI has named Donald Healey, Ph.D., formerly the Chief Scientific Officer of Opexa Therapeutics, as Senior Vice President of Operations and Site Head for its new Houston-area cell therapy facility.

“Expansion into cell therapy development and manufacturing is a key strategic initiative for KBI,” stated Tim Kelly, President of KBI. “Cellular therapies are truly changing the course of health care for some of our most challenging disease indications, and the biopharmaceutical industry needs contract development and manufacturing solutions to accelerate delivery of these innovative products to patients. We are especially excited to welcome Opexa’s highly regarded team of cell therapy experts to KBI. This acquisition continues KBI’s tradition of building cGMP biopharmaceutical manufacturing capabilities on a foundation of exceptionally strong analytical and process development expertise.”

To date, KBI has helped to advance more than 300 molecules in 68 unique health indications. With the addition of these expanded cell therapy capabilities, KBI will continue to accelerate an even broader range of drug development programs for its global client base.

About KBI Biopharma

KBI Biopharma is a biopharmaceutical Contract Development & Manufacturing Organization that accelerates the development of innovative discoveries into life-changing biological products. From early-stage biotech to academic/non-profit organizations to many of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, KBI has served 250+ clients globally to accelerate and optimize their drug development programs.

KBI’s extensive track record of successful programs is a result of its unique approach: applying the insight gained from our advanced biophysical and analytical protein characterization techniques towards the development of robust and scalable processes. KBI delivers accelerated and integrated process development and cGMP manufacturing programs for a wide range of recombinant protein Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) for our clients.

KBI was founded in 1996 and operates 4 facilities: Durham and Research Triangle Park (NC), Boulder (CO), and The Woodlands (TX).

www.kbibiopharma.com