Miltenyi Biotec acquires gene therapy assets from Lentigen Corporation

BERGISCH GLADBACH, GERMANY, August 14, 2014 — Miltenyi Biotec announced today that it has acquired the lentiviral vector manufacturing business and related assets from US company Lentigen Corporation, a global leader in lentiviral technology for cell and gene therapy applications. 

The acquisition further strengthens Miltenyi Biotec’s portfolio in cell and gene therapy. Assets obtained in the transaction include a broad range of intellectual property, process technologies, and cGMP-qualified manufacturing facilities. The Lentigen team will join Miltenyi Biotec, and operate through its newly formed, wholly owned US subsidiary Lentigen Technology, Inc. based in Gaithersburg, MD.

Miltenyi Biotec will leverage the combined capabilities by offering customized system and application design in strategic partnerships with clinical investigators and companies to develop and commercialize cell and gene therapies. 

“It is our goal at Miltenyi Biotec to become the major supplier of lentiviral vectors for cell and gene therapies, both for clinical research and at commercial scale,” said Stefan Miltenyi, Chief Executive Officer of Miltenyi Biotec. “With the acquisition of the Lentigen assets, we have strengthened our comprehensive portfolio that will enable our current and future partners to proceed in cell therapies efficiently from preclinical testing through human studies to automated manufacturing for widespread commercial therapeutic use, all with a single strategic partner.” 

Lentiviral technology provides the most efficient method for delivering genetic material into cells to modulate their function, as demonstrated by recent clinical trials in genetic diseases and oncology indications utilizing lentivirus-modified chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells.

Concurrent with the transaction, the sellers, now operating as Opus Bio, Inc., have been granted certain rights to deploy lentiviral technology in some therapeutic indications, for which Lentigen Technology, Inc. shall be the preferred manufacturing supplier.