DiNAQOR, an innovative genetic medicine company has announced that it will sell a 95% stake in its subsidiary DiNAMIQS to Siegfried Holding to scale and commercials its cell and gene therapy development and manufacturing platform.
The Switzerland-based CDMO with subsidiaries in California, US and Hamburg, Germany is focused on a proprietary human-based tissue drug development and technology to enable organ-specific delivery of gene therapies and other therapeutics.
As a pioneer in gene therapy in Switzerland, DiNAQOR has successfully established a state-of-the-art R&D and pilot-scale operation in the Bio-Technopark Zurich-Schlieren. Supported and financed by its new parent company Siegfried, DiNAMIQS will build a high-end GMP-compliant facility to make DiNAMIQS’ capabilities available to customers also at industrial scale and to create a best-in-class CDMO for cell and gene therapies.
With that, DiNAMIQS will be able to produce viral vectors at up to 500L scale and to supply products for all stages from clinical development to commercialisation starting 2025.
DiNAMIQS and Siegfried, we will create an attractive offering for our existing and new customers and extend our proven business model into a high-growth segment of the CDMO market
- Dr Wolfgang Wienand, CEO of Siegfried
The total investment of Siegfried for the majority acquisition of DiNAMIQS and the establishment of the new GMP facility will be in the mid double-digit millions Swiss Francs.
DiNAMIQS is an innovative CDMO that offers a cutting-edge clinical development and a manufacturing platform for AAV vectors for use in gene therapy, with various techniques for achieving high vector purity, yield, homogeneity, and stability.
“Over the past years, we at DiNAMIQS have built a highly skilled and experienced team of experts and end-to-end solutions for manufacturing and analytical services in the field of viral vectors. Together with Siegfried, DiNAMIQS will be able to offer its clients including DiNAQOR the complete value chain from GMP manufacturing of drug substances to filling and finishing of drug products,” said Eduard Ayuso, D.V.M. PhD, CEO of DiNAMIQS.
"With this investment in DiNAMIQS and its highly capable technology platform, we get access to the rapidly growing space of cell and gene therapies. Building on the strength of both, DiNAMIQS and Siegfried, we will create an attractive offering for our existing and new customers and extend our proven business model into a high-growth segment of the CDMO market. We look forward to be able to support DiNAMIQS' clients and our partner DiNAQOR with a fully integrated state-of-the-art offering that closes the gaps in vector supply for early-stage research over clinical development to commercial-scale GMP manufacturing," said Dr Wolfgang Wienand, CEO of Siegfried.
DiNAQOR has already established several strategic partnerships and is looking forward to collaborating with the world’s leading gene therapy companies and institutions interested in leveraging its core technologies to advance their projects and shorten the time to market for their products.
“Direct delivery of genetic medicines with our proprietary technology enables us to avoid the toxicity and immunogenicity of traditional gene therapies by protecting other organs and lowering the dosage by at least ten times. With our modular technology platform and the access to DiNAMIQS' and Siegfried’s fully integrated biomanufacturing capabilities we offer an approach that accelerates development timelines and reduces costs and risks for genetic medicine companies, bringing new treatments to market for patients with serious genetic diseases,” said Johannes Holzmeister, M.D., Chairman and CEO of DiNAQOR.
The momentum for gene therapies continues to build, but obstacles and limitations prevent many early-stage development programs from progressing and eventually reaching patients with high unmet need. DiNAQOR has developed a novel and holistic approach to organ-specific delivery of gene therapies. Based on a deep understanding of the underlying disease, the company developed a modular technology platform combining optimised and organ-specific gene-vector-promoter constructs, direct delivery to target organs and engineered human tissue for physiologically relevant drug development. With its unique toolbox of capabilities, DiNAQOR is well positioned to provide one-stop-shop solutions for current and future partners.
