BIA Separations to support production of AveXis' gene therapy pipeline

Biochromatography manufacturing company BIA Separations has announced a collaboration with biotech company AveXis to support the manufacturing processes of Novartis’ gene therapy pipeline.

BIA Separations’ first project with AveXis (a Novartis company) will be to support the purification process of Zolgensma, the first gene therapy approved by the FDA to treat spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in patients less than two years old.

Zolgensma is a one-time treatment that sparked debate due to its cost of just over $2 million.

Aleš Štrancar, CEO of BIA Separations said: “We are proud to have been selected to support AveXis’ gene therapy pipeline. We look forward to seeing how Zolgensma helps the SMA community and the whole BIA team is honored to be a part of this important work.”

Andy Stober, senior vice president of Technical Operations for AveXis added: “We are especially grateful that BIA Separations shared, and operated, with the same sense of urgency we did to help bring gene therapy to the SMA community. BIA’s experience with AAV purification and its chromatographic technology were important contributions and we look forward to our continued work together.”