“Arranta is a leading player in its field that we are proud of bringing under the Recipharm umbrella and continue to build in line with our vision of supporting biotechs by providing process development, manufacturing expertise and bold solutions to take their programs from lab to patient,” said Recipharm CEO Marc Funk.

Headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, Arranta Bio is focused on microbiome therapies and mRNA clinical production capabilities. The company has fermentation and purification expertise for naturally-derived and engineered bacteria consortia, complemented by services in analytics, proprietary media and cryopreservative formulations.

The US firm is also consolidating its mRNA capabilities across both drug substance and drug product at its site in Watertown, which it said will provide customers with substantial time savings in manufacturing, while also hedging against supply chain problems. It planned to start laboratory-scale operations at Watertown last month, with starting materials, mRNA, lipid nanoparticle formulation and a robotic sterile fill line installed by the end of the second quarter.

Arranta sold its process development and GMP clinical manufacturing site in Gainesville, Florida, to Inceptor Bio last November, transferring client programs and key technical employees to Watertown.

Separately, Recipharm has also announced the purchase of Vibalogics, a virotherapy CDMO. Vibalogics holds a leading position in the manufacture of oncolytic viruses, viral vaccines and gene therapies, offering process and analytical development, manufacturing, testing and fill-finish services. It is headquartered in Boxborough, Massachusetts, and also has operations in Cuxhaven, Germany.

Both acquisitions build on another biologics purchase that Recipharm made on Feb. 1. The Stockholm-based group bought Portuguese CDMO Genlbet, a specialist manufacturer of biological clinical trial material and novel modalities such as viral vectors, RNA and microbiome. Genlbet has about 70 employees and a facility located in Oeiras, close to Recipharm’s site in Lisbon.

Author: Elaine Burridge, Freelance Journalist