Crucell Acquires Xcellerex’s Bioproduction Line

Xcellerex has announced that Crucell is acquiring a FlexFactory bioproduction line and multiple XDR single-use bioreactors, to expand the manufacturing capabilities.

The project will deliver new, validated clinical manufacturing capacity at Crucell’s operations in Leiden, The Netherlands, during the first quarter of 2010. This will enable Crucell to commence production faster than the conventional technologies. Financial terms were not yet disclosed.

The agreement, which also includes the sale of Xcellerex’s XDR single-use bioreactors, follows collaborative design work by the two companies over a period of several months. Xcellerex is also providing in-depth support and training services, as well as contract manufacturing services to help accelerate Crucell’s deployment efforts.

Dr. Cees de Jong, Chief Operating Officer, Crucell, said: “The FlexFactory purchase is an important part of our product development strategy as we build capacity to support our growing pipeline of vaccines and therapeutic antibodies for infectious diseases”

“In addition to coming on line rapidly, the FlexFactory platform has great potential to increase our operational efficiency based on its flexibility for multi-drug production, use of disposables, and reduced operating expenses,” he added.