GeneQuine Advances Osteoarthritis Gene Therapy Development with Exothera

GeneQuine Biotherapeutics, a biotech company focused on gene therapy for musculoskeletal disorders, has chosen Exothera, a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), to advance the development of GQ-303—an osteoarthritis gene therapy product candidate.

According to a Sep. 9, 2021 press release, the partnership will see Exothera perform a feasibility study for the development of a large-scale manufacturing process for GQ-303 in GeneQuine’s highly scalable scale-X fixed-bed bioreactor. GQ-303 is an intraarticular gene therapy candidate that turns joint cells into factories for production of the therapeutic protein proteoglycan 4, which improves lubrication and inhibits molecular pathways that promote disease progression in osteoarthritis.

“New approaches in bioprocessing will be required to overcome the complexities of gene therapy manufacturing. The right process design and development is a critical early step to create a sustainable gene therapy,” said Romain de Rauville, VP Business Development at Exothera, in the press release. “We aim to provide our partners with a commercial competitive advantage and help make their innovative treatment affordable for more patients.”

“GeneQuine’s aim is to develop gene therapies for large indications. Therefore, it is crucial for us to develop a truly scalable manufacturing process to be able to serve large patient populations with GQ-303 and our other product candidates,” added Gauthier Poncelet, manufacturing manager at GeneQuine, in the press release. “We are excited to work with Exothera and leverage their expertise to evaluate the suitability of the scale X bioreactor in our production process.”

Source: GeneQuine