Nexvet Advances Manufacturing Strategy

Nexvet Biopharma has announced an update to its manufacturing strategy.

Nexvet has signed a manufacturing agreement with FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies (Fujifilm) to provide future clinical-scale biomanufacturing services for Nexvet's most advanced product candidates, NV-01 and NV-02, being developed for chronic pain management indications in dogs and cats. The contract also allows for Fujifilm to become the commercial manufacturer of these product candidates.

Fujifilm's dedicated biopharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing business operates from three sites and has over 30 years of clinical and commercial experience in biopharmaceutical development and cGMP manufacturing.

"We look forward to working with Fujifilm on the manufacturing processes for our veterinary product candidates in preparation for commercial supply. We welcome a partnership with Fujifilm in animal health," commented Dr. Mark Heffernan, Chief Executive Officer of Nexvet.

In addition to the recent appointment of Dr. Jürgen Horn as Chief Product Development Officer, Nexvet has appointed Ray O'Connor as Vice President of Technical Operations to oversee manufacturing scale-up. Mr. O'Connor is based in Dublin, Ireland. Nexvet is also recruiting other key manufacturing roles in product quality and process development, all expected to be based in Ireland.

Mr O'Connor's previous roles include serving as Head of Manufacturing for Jazz Pharmaceuticals, as a General Manager at animal health company Norbrook Laboratories, and in a series of roles in both Europe and the United States with Pfizer (Wyeth Biopharma), Baxter Biopharma, and Schering-Plough.