RALEIGH – Inceptor Bio continues to quickly advance its oncology product pipeline, acquiring a production plant in Florida. A team of employees at the site also will become part of the Inceptor Bio team.
Financial terms of the deal to acquire the 29,000 square foot GMP [good manufacturing practice] plant from Arranta Bio were not disclosed. Some Arranta workers at the Gainesville, Florida site will join Inceptor, the company said.
Inceptor recently closed on $26 million in funding and has a management team built around gene editing technology.
The site will be used to produce materials for clinical trials, Inceptor said.
Inceptor Bio leaders include Mike Nicholson, Ph.D., and Chris Heery, M.D., who both helped develop the gene-editing platform and CAR-T therapies at Durham-based Precision Biosciences. Dave Ousterout, Ph.D., co-founded Morrisville’s Locus Biosciences, is chief scientific officer. Also, Inceptor Bio’s founder and CEO, Shailesh Maingi, founded Kineticos Life Sciences, a Raleigh-based consulting firm for life sciences companies.
The $26 million investment came from the Kineticos Disruptor Fund.
“We are thrilled to welcome the experienced, talented operating team from Arranta and look forward to establishing cell therapy GMP clinical manufacturing as a key strategic capability. This acquisition accelerates Inceptor Bio’s path to the clinic for our CAR-T, CAR-M and CAR-NK programs with our lead CAR-T candidate scheduled for IND in early 2023,” said Maingi.
