January 24, 2023 (Hamilton, ON) – OmniaBio Inc. has expanded its footprint by adding a new process and analytical development lab space at the McMaster University Medical Centre (MUMC). The new facility is now operational.
“This expansion is the latest in a series of exciting milestones for OmniaBio,” says Mitchel Sivilotti, CEO of OmniaBio Inc. “Acquiring additional lab space, ahead of the opening of our commercial facility in 2024, will enable us to better support our growing portfolio of customers, and accelerate their process and analytical development initiatives. We are adding more than 20 highly experienced cell and gene therapy scientists to advance programs from early clinical through to Phase III.”
OmniaBio works as one organization with the teams at CCRM – its parent company. Over the last seven years, CCRM has become recognized as a leader in process and analytical development, and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) operations, with expertise in three focused platforms: induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), immunotherapy and lentiviral vectors (LVV). OmniaBio’s expanded lab space will be complementary to the ongoing process and analytical development projects already taking place at CCRM’s site in Toronto, Ontario.
“We’ve found an ongoing partner in OmniaBio,” says Dr. Ralph Brandenberger, SVP Technical Operations, Nkarta. “Despite tight project deadlines and supply chain disruptions, OmniaBio’s teams were responsive, inspired confidence and were eager to collaborate. The work involved in our project was technologically challenging, and OmniaBio performed very well and developed very high-quality assets for our purposes.”
OmniaBio’s teams worked with Nkarta on a project that achieved cost-effective manufacturing, under tight timelines, as a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) partner for clinical-phase manufacturing of a natural killer (NK) cell product. Nkarta is a clinical-stage cell therapy company focused on engineered NK cells for the treatment of cancer. Their proprietary technology platform is designed to harness the power of these important immune cells by enhancing their ability to identify and destroy tumour cells.
“We’re pleased to work with OmniaBio, which acts as an extension of our team to lead the development of next generation allogeneic immunotherapies,” says Dr. Emily Titus, Senior Vice President, Technical Operations, Notch Therapeutics. “OmniaBio’s expansion is a testament to the value they offer as a partner by providing the necessary resources to advance our work. We look forward to continuing to work with OmniaBio, and benefitting from their extensive expertise and leadership in iPSC development.”
Notch Therapeutics is an immune cell therapy company developing universal, off-theshelf T-cell therapies. OmniaBio provides CDMO services to Notch Therapeutics and has already developed multiple GMP iPSC lines with Notch. This is in addition to over 200 iPSC lines generated and characterized by the team at CCRM for various customers in the last 10 years.
About OmniaBio
OmniaBio Inc. is a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) focused on cell and gene therapies from pre-clinical through to commercialization, and a subsidiary of CCRM. Benefitting from CCRM’s existing expertise, OmniaBio provides a continuum of advanced process and analytical development, and manufacturing capabilities, by enabling focused support for clients from early clinical phase to commercial supply needs. OmniaBio is built upon leadership in iPSCs, immunotherapy and LVVs. To be located at McMaster Innovation Park, less than one hour from the U.S. border, OmniaBio’s new commercial manufacturing site will anchor a biomanufacturing centre of excellence and will open with late clinical phase and commercial capacity in 2024 in a site totalling approximately 100,000 square feet. OmniaBio is supported by the Government of Ontario, via the Invest Ontario Fund. Please visit us at www.omniabio.com.
For more information, please contact:
Stacey Johnson
stacey.johnson@omniabio.com
1-647-309-1830