Teijin enters LoI for cell and gene therapies

Published: 25-Apr-2023

The development of preferred clinical trial and regulatory pathways for the companies’ customers is also under discussion

Teijin and Japan Tissue Engineering have entered into a Letter of Intent for a global strategic collaboration with Resilience to enhance contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) capabilities for cell and gene therapies, including regenerative medicines, to customers in North America and Asia-Pacific (APAC). 

Teijin, J-TEC and Resilience intend to mutually support and facilitate the expansion of their clients’ businesses to the respective regions. Resilience would serve as one of the preferred suppliers and manufacturers to Teijin and J-TEC’s customers for North America-based process and analytical development (PAD) and biomanufacturing and refer Teijin and J-TEC for APAC-based PAD and biomanufacturing. In addition, Resilience would serve as one of the preferred suppliers of viral vectors for use in the development and manufacture of cell and gene therapy products.

Together, the three companies aim to accelerate development and production of new manufacturing technologies related to cell and gene therapies, and regenerative medicines. Additionally, the companies will discuss a cross-licensing arrangement to enable each party to use the other party’s proprietary manufacturing platforms and related technology in their home jurisdiction, Japan or North America, as applicable. 

The development of preferred clinical trial and regulatory pathways for the companies’ customers is also under discussion. The development of preferred clinical trial and regulatory pathways for the companies’ customers in Japan and North America is also under discussion.

Combining Teijin’s engineering expertise with our organisation’s capabilities in biopharmaceutical manufacturing and medical innovation can potentially provide customers with transpacific manufacturing solutions

"Teijin, J-TEC, and Resilience are contributing to the provision of innovative medical care through manufacturing,’’ said Takayuki Nakano, Mission Executive and General Manager, Regenerative Medicine & Implantable Medical Device Division of Teijin Limited. "Teijin and J-TEC will invest in facilities and human resources to meet customer needs, with a goal of JPY 20 billion in regenerative medicine sales of the Teijin Group by FY 2030, and this collaboration will encourage to achieve this goal.”

“We are excited to collaborate with Teijin and J-TEC to envision a future where we could bring Resilience’s manufacturing capabilities to the Asia-Pacific region,” said Rahul Singhvi, Sc.D., Chief Executive Officer of Resilience. “Combining Teijin’s engineering expertise with our organisation’s capabilities in biopharmaceutical manufacturing and medical innovation can potentially provide customers with transpacific manufacturing solutions that ensure therapies can be made quickly, safely, and at scale.” 

Demand for CDMO services in cell and gene therapies, including regenerative medicines, is rising due to heightened technical levels in manufacturing and specialisation in manufacturing and development functions. Demand for regenerative medicine market is rapidly growing and is estimated to exceed JPY 850 billion in 2030 in Japan. This trend is assumed to result in increase of regenerative medicine products originated outside Japan in the Japanese market, making a system that connects development demand between Japan and outside Japan vital.

Teijin and J-TEC, the Teijin Group’s core regenerative-medicine business, already have experience collaborating to support customers. In September 2022 they established a one-stop R&D system with the National Cancer Center Japan and Mitsui Fudosan in Kashiwanoha Smart City, a life science business park near Tokyo.

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