Cellares Archives - Medical Design Sourcing

50 of the best-funded biotechs of 2023

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As the year draws to a close, it is clear that molecular science and diagnostics is the hottest funding area in the biotech industry. In an analysis of 50 of the best-funded biotechs of 2023 focused on human health, molecular and science and diagnostics startups collectively attracting roughly $945 million, dwarfing the figures in other segments. The next popular two niches, gene therapies and oncology, had average funding levels of approximately $245 million and $170 million, respectively. While AI has received a significant amount of attention this year, biotechs specializing in that field garnered an average funding of only about $66 million. Outside of the life sciences, startups with a broader focus on AI raised a cumulative average of $202.47 million, based on an analysis of close to 1000 companies.

Caris Life Sciences has raised nearly $1.7B to date

In terms of best-funded companies overall,…

Cellares teams up with Bristol Myers Squibb to explore automated CAR-T cell therapy manufacturing

Less than a week after announcing that it has secured $255 million in Series C funding, South San Francisco-based startup Cellares has revealed that Bristol Myers Squibb has joined its Technology Adoption Partnership (TAP) program. To date, the company has raised more than $355 million in total financing.

As part of the TAP program, Bristol Myers Squibb plans on conducting a proof-of-concept transfer of a CAR-T cell therapy process onto the Cell Shuttle, which the company has called a “factory in a box.”

Cellares plans to use the funding to launch what it dubs the world’s first commercial-scale Integrated Development and Manufacturing Organization (IDMO) smart factory. Koch Disruptive Technologies led the investment round, which included participation from Bristol Myers Squibb, DFJ Growth, Willett Advisors, Eclipse, Decheng Capital and 8VC.

When asked how Cellares managed to receive a large funding round in a difficult financial climate, Gerlinghausen sa…

Prominent cell and gene therapy vendors in 2023

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In recent years, the cell and gene therapy market has grown at a rapid clip. The momentum is likely to continue. According to Vision Research Reports, the global cell and gene therapy market size could hit around $42.56 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 39% from 2022 to 2030.

The burgeoning demand in the industry, along with an increasing number of FDA-approved therapies, is also fueling the growth of cell and gene therapy vendors offering tools and services for product development and manufacturing.

The following table includes notable vendors and suppliers active in the call and gene therapy marketplace. This curated selection of companies includes a brief overview of their focus areas.

We have a separate feature focused on companies with prominent cell and gene therapy development efforts.

Company Name Description Notable partnerships Founded He…

100 top cell and gene therapy companies to watch in 2023

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The cell and gene therapy sector is poised to deliver a wave of new therapies that could potentially cure rare and common diseases. As many as 13 new cell or gene therapies could be approved for use in the U.S., Europe, or both by the end of 2023.

While manufacturing and regulatory challenges remain, the cell and gene therapy industry continues to offer significant therapeutic potential and commercial opportunities.

This year, we have beefed up our list of leading cell and gene therapy companies, doubling the number of organizations from 50 to 100.

In selecting the companies for this list, we weighed public companies’ degree of involvement in cell and gene therapy, including drug developers, equipment vendors and CDMOs specializing in the area. For private companies, we factored in their funding levels, pipeline and degree of history for the list.

B…

How Cellares aims to transform cell therapy manufacturing

The startup Cellares has a mission to enable industrial-scale cell therapy manufacturing with its Cell Shuttle, which it dubs a “factory in a box.”

The germ for the idea traces back to market research that South San Francisco, California-based Cellares co-founder and CEO Fabian Gerlinghaus focused on in a prior role. While attending industry conferences, Gerlinghaus stumbled upon traditional cell therapy manufacturing challenges and the opportunity to accelerate the process. “At these conferences, people were shouting from the rooftops, ‘We need cell therapy manufacturing technologies that are fully automated, fully closed and scalable to produce these life-saving therapeutics at a large scale for all the patients who need them,'” Gerlinghaus recounted.

Fabian Gerlinghaus

Cellares was born in April 2019 and has raised $100 million to date.

One of the chief objectiv…