Maryland-based CDMO Vector BioMed announced its launch and first financing round this week, revealing that it received $15 million to accelerate its commercial operations.
The biomanufacturing company is hoping to help address the industry’s current vector supply bottleneck by providing lentivirus vectors at scale.
Currently, there is an 18-24 month backlog for lentivirus vector manufacturing services, which are needed for therapies such as CAR-T cell therapy and hematopoietic stem cell-derived genetic therapies.
To help meet the industry’s current lentiviral vector needs, Vector BioMed is proposing solutions such as algorithm-optimized vectors that enable superior function, and a platform serum-free suspension vector manufacturing process.
Vector BioMed is led by Boro Dropulić, who has over 30 years of experience in lentivirus vector technology, founding Miltenyi’s Lentigen, which was responsible for the lentivirus vector used to produce Kymriah, the first FDA-approved gene therapy.
