Recipharm partners with CanVirex to advance oncolytic virus therapy
- Recipharm and CanVirex have signed a strategic manufacturing development collaboration supporting the clinical development of CanVirex's oncolytic measles virus platform
- The programme will establish a scalable manufacturing process for CanVirex's lead candidate, expressing IL-12, targeting advanced solid tumours
- Recipharm's expertise in aseptic processing of large, unfilterable viruses positions it as an end-to-end manufacturing partner for oncolytic viruses.
Recipharm, a leading global contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO), and CanVirex, a Swiss biotechnology company developing next-generation oncolytic virus immunotherapies, today announced a process development collaboration to support the scale-up of CanVirex's Vero cell/measles virus manufacturing platform. The companies have recently initiated the technology transfer of CanVirex's process to Recipharm. The collaboration is expected to establish the manufacturing foundation required for future clinical studies and long-term commercial scalability.
CanVirex is developing a next-generation oncolytic measles virus platform designed to combine direct tumour destruction with local immune activation. The programme builds on more than two decades of clinical development of engineered oncolytic measles viruses, providing substantial clinical experience for this therapeutic class. CanVirex’s lead programme, an IL-12 expressing oncolytic measles virus, is being advanced for patients with difficult-to-treat solid tumours, including those tumours types that remain poorly served by current immunotherapy approaches. The collaboration began with feasibility studies led by Recipharm, to support cell and virus banking in static culture systems, establishing development cell and virus banks and confirming the suitability of CanVirex's Vero cell/measles virus system for further process development. Building on this work, the programme is now advancing into process development runs, transferring process knowledge and enabling optimisation of a scalable bioreactor manufacturing process based on microcarrier culture.
Beyond its immediate process development goals, the programme is intended as a launching pad for future GMP manufacturing, giving CanVirex a streamlined path towards clinical production through a single, trusted development and manufacturing partner. By establishing its process at Recipharm, CanVirex gains continuity of knowledge, reduced technology transfer risk, and access to an integrated CDMO with expertise spanning viral vector process development through GMP manufacture.
CanVirex selected Recipharm for its established expertise in virus manufacturing and its ability to offer end-to-end services for oncolytic viruses that require aseptic processing including large, unfilterable viruses.
Greg Behar, CEO of Recipharm, said: “This collaboration reflects Recipharm's commitment to supporting innovative oncolytic virus developers like CanVirex from process development through to GMP manufacture. Our experience with aseptic processing of large, hard-to-filter viruses makes us a trusted partner for CanVirex in advancing this important programme for patients with advanced solid tumours."
Dr. Werner Tschollar, Chairman of the Board of Directors at CanVirex, said: “Establishing a scalable manufacturing process is a critical step toward bringing our next-generation oncolytic measles virus platform into clinical development. Recipharm brings unique expertise in manufacturing complex viral therapeutics and provides a strong foundation for future clinical supply. Together, we are building the infrastructure needed to advance our platform toward clinical development and future patient benefit.”
The project is delivered from Recipharm’s Cuxhaven facility in Germany, a leading biologics manufacturing hub supporting the development and commercialisation of advanced therapies. The site is a centre of excellence for viral vectors, oncolytic viruses and sterile microbial products providing integrated development, manufacturing, sterile fill & finish, and analytical services from pre-clinical development through commercial supply. With more than 20 years of experience supporting complex biologics and advanced therapies, the site offers expertise in seed banking (virus, cell culture and bacterial), diverse oncolytic virus and AAV manufacturing, diverse live bacterial products, alongside commercial-ready fill and finish, and analytical capabilities. Backed by ongoing investment in manufacturing, quality control and commercial readiness, Recipharm helps partners accelerate the development and delivery of innovative therapies to patients worldwide.
For more information
About CanVirex
CanVirex AG is a Swiss biotechnology company developing next-generation oncolytic measles virus therapies for solid tumours. The Company's proprietary platform is based on engineered measles viruses, leveraging one of the safest and most widely used vaccines in medical history as a programmable therapeutic delivery vehicle. Designed to selectively target tumours, destroy cancer cells and stimulate anti-tumour immunity, the platform enables the development of differentiated immunotherapies with broad potential across multiple cancer indications. Building on extensive experience with engineered oncolytic measles viruses, CanVirex is advancing a pipeline of product candidates, while preparing its lead programmes for clinical development through clinical, manufacturing and industry partnerships. As a spin-off from Heidelberg University Hospital, CanVirex maintains a strategic collaboration for the research and clinical development of measles-vectored therapeutics, providing access to a strong translational environment at one of Europe's leading cancer centres.
About Recipharm
Recipharm is a leading Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisation (CDMO) employing over 4,500 employees worldwide. Recipharm provides manufacturing services of pharmaceuticals in various dosage forms, including sterile fill & finish, oral solid dosage and biologics; clinical trial material development and manufacturing services; and pharmaceutical product development. Its Recipharm Advanced Bio segment works with customers to develop and commercialise advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs): pre-clinical to clinical development, commercial development and manufacture for new biological modalities, encompassing technologies based on live viruses and viral vectors, live-microbial biopharmaceutical products, nucleic acid-based mRNA and plasmid DNA production.
Recipharm manufactures several hundred different products to customers ranging from big pharma to smaller research and development companies. Headquartered in Switzerland, it operates development and manufacturing facilities in France, Germany, India, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the US.
For more information about Recipharm, please visit www.recipharm.com and www.recipharm-ab.com
Media contact:
Guenaelle Holloway, Head of marketing and communications
Guenaelle.Holloway@recipharm.com
+44 7730 303 708
Recipharm AB
Corporate identity number 556498-8425
Address Box 603, SE-101 32 Stockholm, Sweden, Telephone +46 8 602 52 00
www.recipharm.com
Tags: