CDMO Exothera grows North American tech and footprint

Exothera’s sister company Quantoom Biosciences developed Ntensify, a purification platform that claims to avoid expensive chromatography material while increasing the drug substance's overall quality.

According to the contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), Ntensify reduces operational costs as all drug substance production occurs in a single, small clean room with minimum personnel. Additionally, Exothera said the time to complete a batch through Ntensify is roughly halved.

The tech is now available to biopharma companies in North America through Exothera’s parent company, Belgium-based Univercells Group, which opened offices in Andover, Massachusetts, in October 2023.

“Through our expansion into the US, developers of RNA therapeutics and vaccines will have access to the most advanced RNA production processes and equipment, allowing for fast delivery of therapeutics and vaccines to their patients on US soil,” Darren Leva, chief business officer at Exothera, told BioProcess Insider.

Additionally, Exothera has established its own facility in Andover to provide access to its technology for US-based customers.

“Andover is located just 30 minutes northwest of Cambridge putting us near the global epicenter for RNA innovation,” Leva said.

“The site allows easier access to our technology for US-based customers. Innovators can visit the site and see the equipment firsthand. We can produce research-use only (RUO) material to enable the down selection of drug candidates, produce material for in vitro testing, or larger batches that could support small in vivo studies.”