ReForm Biologics and KBI Biopharma Announce Strategic Partnership to Improve Biopharmaceutical Formulations and Development
Collaboration will provide clients competitive advantages, improve speed to market
KBI makes equity investment in ReForm Biologics along with existing investors
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and Durham, NC – April 4, 2018 – ReForm Biologics and KBI Biopharma, Inc., (KBI) today announced a strategic partnership to make improved biopharmaceutical formulations. Through this collaboration, KBI and ReForm will help customers extend product lifecycles, enable improved dosing for patients, and enhance manufacturing efficiencies. As part of the strategic partnership, KBI has made an equity investment in ReForm Biologics.
KBI is a leading biopharmaceutical contract services company providing fully integrated drug development and biomanufacturing services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies globally. To date, the company has served more than 250 clients around the world, including most of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies.
ReForm’s proprietary excipient technologies decrease viscosity and enhance stability, thereby enabling subcutaneous and improved device-assisted administration that can enable biopharmaceutical companies to expand market share and maximize value creation via product line extension.
As part of the collaboration, KBI will provide services to ReForm to further develop and validate its biologic formulation platform while also gaining access to ReForm’s proprietary technology. Reform will maintain the ability to utilize its formulation technologies directly with its pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
“We are very excited to collaborate with ReForm and leverage their enabling formulation technology to advance the programs of our client partners,” said Tim Kelly Ph.D., President and CEO of KBI. “KBI has a long-standing track record of leadership in the formulation of biologics, and ReForm’s unique technology will help us address some of the biggest challenges in protein formulation. Together, KBI and ReForm will help transform our clients’ most innovative pipeline discoveries into viable commercial products to treat patients.”
“This collaboration brings together ReForm’s innovative formulation platforms with KBI’s deep industry experience and global customer base,” said John M. Sorvillo Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer at ReForm. “Access to KBI’s services and customers will allow us to advance our technologies more rapidly and generate additional revenues for both companies. We are pleased to have KBI as a shareholder and strategic partner as we expand our transformative platforms for biotherapeutic formulations, for the benefit of patients.”
Along with KBI’s equity investment, ReForm Biologics’ existing investors, including Phoenix Venture Partners, participated in the investment round.
Reform’s formulation capabilities include:
- Viscosity-reducing excipients for high concentration biologic formulations, to enable subcutaneous injection or device-assisted administration, or to improve filtration unit operations;
- Stability-enhancing excipients, to prevent aggregation and particle formation in biologics; and
- Surfactant-replacing excipients, to avoid the degradation problems that accompany known surfactants for biological formulations.
About ReForm Biologics
ReForm Biologics has developed a technology platform that transforms the formulation of biotherapeutics for the ultimate benefit of patients. ReForm’s patented FDA-friendly technology can extend product life-cycles, enable alternative dosing, and improve manufacturing efficiency for our biopharmaceutical partners. With multiple industry alliances to date, ReForm offers formulation development collaborations and product-specific licenses for a broad spectrum of protein-based therapeutics.
About KBI Biopharma
KBI Biopharma is a world-class biopharmaceutical contract services organization providing fully-integrated, accelerated drug development and biomanufacturing services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies globally.
To date, KBI has worked closely with 250+ clients — from early-stage biotech companies to the world’s largest pharmaceutical organizations — to rapidly accelerate their drug development programs, which collectively address more than 70 unique health indications.
KBI’s extensive track record of successful programs is a result of its unique approach: applying the insight gained from its advanced biophysical and analytical protein characterization techniques towards the development of robust and scalable processes. KBI delivers accelerated and integrated process development and cGMP manufacturing programs for a wide range of recombinant protein Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) and cell therapies for our clients.
KBI was founded in 1996 and operates facilities in Durham and Research Triangle Park (NC), Boulder and Louisville (CO), The Woodlands (TX), and San Diego (CA).
About Phoenix Venture Partners
Phoenix Venture Partners (PVP) is a leading venture capital firm that partners with entrepreneurs to commercialize breakthrough materials science and device innovations. PVP’s team has a track record of founding, building, growing, and investing in successful start-ups. PVP is based in Silicon Valley with satellite offices in Seattle and Cambridge, MA.
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Press Contacts
For ReForm Biologics
George E. MacDougall
MacDougall Biomedical Communications
(781) 235-3060
gmacdougall@macbiocom.com
For KBI Biopharma
Missy Bindseil
(830) 237-9527
mbindseil@jsrlifesciences.com
