Cobra Biologics announces global expansion plans

Contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) Cobra Biologics will expand its plasmid DNA services as part of an expansion project, the company has announced. 

The expansion is being made in direct response to the great demand of commercial capacity within the biologics industry. The project will see Cobra Biologics complete a four-fold increase in high quality (HQ) DNA manufacturing capacity, alongside new clinical and commercial GMP DNA facilities at its European facilities. The company’s HQ plasmid manufacturing service provides a rapid six-week delivery time for the clinical manufacture of immuno-oncology therapies. 

Cognate BioServices, the company Cobra Biologics was acquired by, has also announced plans to expand expand cell and gene therapy manufacturing capacity, laboratory space, warehousing capabilities, and increase office support at its facilities in the United States and Europe.

The overall expansion will nearly double the capacity at Cognate’s existing global manufacturing facility and headquarters in Memphis. There, Cognate will add a distribution center to help manage global supply chain needs, and a third site focused on commercial manufacturing capabilities. Construction has already begun on the distribution center and is expected to finalise in early 2021. 

“Our expansion plans in cell and gene therapy, in the US and Europe, and the close proximity to a global shipping and logistics hubs, provide Cognate BioServices, together with Cobra Biologics, a unique competitive advantage not available to other CDMOs. This is critically important to our clients around the world who are commercialising cell and gene therapies that require rapid turn around and often utilise real-time shipping and handling,” said J. Kelly Ganjei, chairman & CEO of Cognate. “We are committed to rapidly expanding our global reach and capacity, allowing us to further our mission of developing, manufacturing and delivering leading-edge living therapeutics of the highest quality to patients around the globe.”