4basebio makes progress with manufacturing development

Specialist life sciences company 4basebio updated the market on its synthetic DNA business on Tuesday, having added Mark Cooper its as head of manufacturing in December, alongside further senior hires across its manufacturing, quality assurance and business development teams in recent months.

The AIM-traded firm said Cooper had joined from Abcam, and had assumed responsibility for the group’s manufacturing facility.

Despite supply chain and Covid-19-related challenges during construction, the company said the development of phase one, comprising four synthesis rooms, was now complete.

Phase two, consisting of three further synthesis rooms, was expected to be completed in March, with the overall development to be completed within budget.

As it previously reported, the facility would be undergoing testing and validation during the second quarter of 2022.

4basebio said it then planned to manufacture and sell research and preclinical-grade DNA, while working towards securing ‘Good Manufacturing Practice’ (GMP) approvals.

4basebio also confirmed that the facility handover coincided with the company’s first commercial order for research-grade DNA.

“The combination of the handover of the clean rooms, recruitment of the manufacturing and quality assurance teams and the first commercial sale of product all represent important milestones for 4basebio and its key strategic objective of commercialising its synthetic DNA technology,” said chief executive and scientific officer Heikki Lanckriet.

“4basebio has made significant progress over the past year, with this update coming a little over a year since the spin out from its former parent company.

“The prospects both for the group’s DNA technology as well as its non-viral delivery technology remain very exciting,” Dr Lanckriet added.

At 1100 GMT, shares in 4basebio were flat at 600p.