Teijin, Mediridge And TFBS Bioscience To Supply Raw Materials For Regenerative Medicine Development And Manufacture

Teijin Limited, TFBS Bioscience Inc. and Mediridge Co., Ltd. announced today that they have agreed to supply viral vectors and plasmids for cell and gene-therapy products that are used to develop and manufacture regenerative medicines involving gene transfer. Viral vectors, which are viruses that retain their cell-entry mechanisms but not their original proliferative and toxic functions, are used to introduce a foreign gene of interest into a cell to express targeted functions. Plasmids are circular DNA found in bacteria and other microscopic organisms. Since they replicate independently of chromosomal DNA, they are used as vectors or carriers that integrate target genes and express genes with targeted functions in cells.

Aiming to contribute to the provision of innovative medical treatments, Teijin, TFBS Bioscience and Mediridge will collaborate in the design and development of regenerative medicines, formulation of business plans, and the manufacture investigational drugs and commercial products including viral vectors. They aim to contribute to the advancement of regenerative medicines by providing customers with one-stop services based on regenerative-medicine platform located in Kashiwanoha Smart City, a life science business park near Tokyo. Also, TFBS will expand its business development and customer services in Japan through technology development in Kashiwanoha Smart City.

Teijin's contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) business focused on regenerative medicines includes product design incorporating the know-how of its group company Japan Tissue Engineering Co., Ltd. (J-TEC) and a one-stop R&D system established with the National Cancer Center Japan and Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd. in Kashiwanoha Smart City. Meanwhile, know-how on gene transfer and viral vector supply chains are necessary for manufacturing and process development of products for gene cell therapy such as chimeric antigen receptor-T (CAR-T) cell therapy.

TFBS is a biotechnology company that has spun off in October 2016 from the Development Center for Biotechnology, a government-sponsored research institute in Taiwan. TFBS provides CDMO service for viral vectors in compliance with good manufacturing practice (GMP) requirements. TFBS also provides a one-stop-shop good laboratory practice (GLP) testing service to support cell and gene therapy product development, including assay development, animal safety study, and clinical sample analysis.

Mediridge is a biotechnology company engaged in studies and consulting related to the development and manufacturing of gene cell therapy and biopharmaceuticals. Mediridge owns a facility for manufacturing plasmids and also is the distribution agent for TFBS in Japan.

The alliance will enable Teijin’s regenerative-medicine CDMO business to receive plasmids from Mediridge and viral vectors from TFBS. Since the number of viral vector suppliers in Japan is limited, this will allow Teijin to stably provide raw materials to enterprises and academic institutions from initial R&D to commercial production.

Mediridge and TFBS will expand their viral vector business in Japan by receiving customer referrals from Teijin. In addition, Teijin will provide consultation services in cooperation with Mediridge to meet demands for gene transfer and viral vector development.