- Bionova Scientific plans new pDNA development and manufacturing facility in Texas.
- The expansion aims to meet the demand for high-quality pDNA among cell and gene therapy developers.
Bionova Scientific, an Asahi Kasei Group company and a full-service biologics contract manufacturing organization (CDMO), has announced its intention to expand into plasmid DNA (pDNA) production. The initiative will be centered around a new development and manufacturing facility located in The Woodlands, Texas, near Houston. Scheduled to commence operations in the first quarter of 2025, the facility will provide pDNA development services and produce research-grade and high-quality pDNA, with GMP manufacturing to follow later in the year.
The decision to establish a presence in The Woodlands was influenced by the location’s proximity to a growing number of cell and gene therapy (CGT) companies in the United States and the burgeoning CGT ecosystem in Texas.
James Glover, Chief Operating Officer of Bionova, commented on the market’s current challenges, “For the past few years, we’ve seen the cell and gene therapy marketplace struggle with constrained availability of high-quality pDNA.” He added, “We are confident that by this time next year, we will be well into the delivery of expert development services and production of high-quality pDNA.”
In addition to the Texas facility, Bionova Scientific is also enhancing biologics production capacity at its headquarters in Fremont, California. This expansion, announced earlier in 2023, is set to quadruple GMP manufacturing capacity, further enabling the company to support the commercial manufacture of biotherapeutics.
Darren Head, CEO of Bionova Scientific, emphasized the company’s commitment to accelerating therapeutic development, “Bionova’s mission has always been to help our partners get their therapeutics to patients faster.” He outlined the company’s strategy, which involves building a dedicated team and establishing a facility designed to replicate the success of their biologics operations.
Overview of outsourcing trends 
