Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. and Nanoscope Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing gene therapies for retinal degenerative diseases, announced a comprehensive manufacturing collaboration utilizing Charles River's extensive contract development and manufacturing (CDMO) services in both plasmid DNA and viral vectors.
"We are excited to continue to support Nanoscope Therapeutics' efforts in the production of gene therapies that are focused on restoring vision for people suffering from retinal degenerative diseases with no known cure. Their work is incredibly important to patients, and we look forward to continuing to serve as a partner," said Kerstin Dolph, Corporate Senior Vice President of Biologics Solutions at Charles River.
"Nanoscope looks forward to working with Charles River to support our accelerated development program. We have high expectations for our program and are counting on Charles River leadership, resources and scale to deliver in this partnership," said Anil Lalwani, Vice President of CMC at Nanoscope Therapeutics, Inc.
A Robust Manufacturing Collaboration
Through this partnership, Nanoscope will have access to established manufacturing platforms and multiple Charles River CDMO centers of excellence, leveraging a comprehensive range of services including but not limited to GMP cell banking, High Quality (HQ) and GMP-grade plasmid DNA manufacture, and GMP adeno-associated virus (AAV) production.
This gene therapy manufacturing partnership builds on Charles River's acquisitions of Cognate BioServices, Cobra Biologics, and Vigene Biosciences in 2021 that expanded its comprehensive cell and gene therapy (C>) portfolio to span each of the major CDMO platforms – cell therapy, viral vector, and plasmid DNA production.
Treating Degenerative Retinal Diseases
Nanoscope Therapeutics is developing gene-agnostic, sight restoring Multi-Characteristic Opsin (MCO) optogenetic therapies for the millions of patients blinded by retinal degenerative diseases, for which no cure exists. Nanoscope's optogenetic therapy uses a proprietary AAV2 vector to deliver MCO genes into retinal cells to enable vision in different color environments. The therapy is administered as a single intravitreal injection for in-office delivery without the need for any other devices or interventions.
Subscribe to our e-Newsletters
Stay up to date with the latest news, articles, and events. Plus, get special offers
from American Pharmaceutical Review – all delivered right to your inbox!
Sign up now!