Research Triangle Park Q1 2023 News Recap – Expansions and Acquisitions Abound
By Alex Keown
April 3, 2023
Eli Lilly expands RTP site
Pharma giant Eli Lilly announced plans to invest $450 million to expand its manufacturing site in the Research Triangle Park. The expansion will include the addition of 100 jobs and is expected to increase the availability of the company’s diabetes medications. The expansion of its facility is expected to be completed in 2027.
The expansion of Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly’s Durham facility will include additional parenteral filling, device assembly and packaging capacity to support increased demand for Lilly’s incretin products that treat diabetes. Construction is expected to begin this year.
Eli Lilly first established its manufacturing presence in RTP in 2020 with a $470 million investment.
Novo Nordisk donates $6 million for workforce development
Pharma Giant Novo Nordisk donated $6 million to support the construction and outfitting of a new 35,000-square-foot Life Sciences Training Center at Durham Technical Community College. The new center will be used to train a new generation of talent.
The donation, the largest in the college’s history, will expand Durham Tech’s existing Biotechnology Biomanufacturing program. The training program, which offers hands-on learning, will allow the school to expand its degree curricula and short-term workforce training programs. Additionally, the financing will allow for outreach programs in area high schools and even middle schools.
The Durham Tech program provides opportunities for people looking to break into the pharmaceutical industry. In addition to DTCC students, the program provides opportunities for high school students, veterans who may be transitioning out of service, people looking to reskill and change career paths and more.
Kymanox makes multiple acquisitions
During the first three months of 2023, Kymanox Corporation acquired both Agilis Consulting Group in the United States, as well as two European businesses, anteris medical GmbH and anteris helvetia AG.
The most recent acquisition of professional services company Agilis enables Morrisville-based Kymanox to extend its human factors capabilities. The addition of Agilis’ human factors services benefits client programs from start through regulatory submissions and commercialization. Agilis offers early-stage design evaluation and product concept consultation on a wide range of products across a variety of therapeutic areas in order to improve use-related safety, effectiveness, and overall usability. Their proprietary human-factors engineering strategies seek to cost-effectively optimize device design in a way that aligns with regulatory requirements.
Earlier this year, Kymanox expanded its European client service capabilities with the acquisition of anteris medical GmbH and anteris helvetia AG. The combination of the capabilities of the two anteris’ companies provides Kymanox with a broader footprint in Europe, one in Germany and another in Switzerland. The synergies of the merger with the anteris businesses gave Kymanox greater expertise in areas like European regulatory affairs, strategy, and pathways, as well as with biosimilar development and commercialization.
New CEOs take reins in RTP
Bayer subsidiary Asklepios BioPharmaceutical (AskBio) tapped Amneal Pharmaceuticals veteran Gustavo Pesquin as its new chief executive officer following the retirement of company cofounder and CEO Sheila Mikhail. AskBio is a gene therapy company. Its Pro10 AAV manufacturing process has become a standard across the industry that is used by multiple companies, including Pfizer, Novartis and Takeda, among others. Pesquin most recently served as chief commercial officer of New Jersey-based Amneal.
Privately-held Bryn Pharma named industry veteran Sandy Loreaux as its new CEO in February. Loreaux takes over the reins after former CEO David Dworaczyk transitioned from the CEO role to become head of R&D and Regulatory. Bryn Pharma is developing the epinephrine nasal spray, Utuly. Prior to joining Bryn Pharma, Loreaux led Covis Pharma’s U.S. Operations as U.S. President. Prior to that, she served as Senior Vice President and General Manager, U.S. Critical Care for Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals. Loreaux spent the first 19 years of her career at Sanofi and its legacy companies in various roles of increasing responsibility.
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Alex Keown is a freelance journalist who writes about a variety of subjects including the pharma, biotech, and life science industries. Prior to freelancing, Alex has served as a staff writer and editor for several publications.
