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Charles River (CRL) Collaborates With Fondazione Telethon

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Charles River International, Inc. (CRL - Free Report) recently entered into a High-Quality (“HQ”) plasmid manufacturing collaboration with Fondazione Telethon. The rare disease organization will use Charles River's industry-leading cell and gene CDMO expertise in HQ plasmid DNA production and GMP-compliant plasmid DNA batches.

An internationally renowned non-profit organization, Fondazione Telethon, is dedicated to developing biomedical research to treat uncommon genetic illnesses.

The latest collaboration will likely bolster Charles River’s Biologics Testing Solutions business unit offered under the Manufacturing segment.

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Charles River’s HQ plasmid production integrates essential elements of GMP manufacturing, enabling quick turnaround times and expedited clinical application. Demand for plasmid DNA, a crucial building block for many cell and gene therapies, continues to outpace supply.

Charles River announced the opening of a cutting-edge HQ plasmid production center of excellence to solve supply issues and meet the expanding demands of the cell and gene therapy industry.

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Fondazione Telethon will leverage Charles River’s CDMO expertise to manufacture HQ plasmid DNA for Fondazione Telethon’s lentivirus production that will be used in ex vivo cell and gene therapy.

Strategic Efforts

Through this partnership, Fondazione Telethon will have access to reputable manufacturing platforms and several Charles River CDMO centers of excellence, utilizing a wide variety of services including, but not limited to, GMP cell banking and HQ and GMP-grade plasmid DNA manufacture.

Charles River is excited to collaborate with Fondazione Telethon to produce HQ plasmid DNA for the lentivirus used in ex vivo gene therapy developed by Fondazione Telethon. Customers can feel secure knowing Charles River has a track record of successfully creating, producing, and consistently delivering plasmid DNA.

Industry Prospects

Per a report by Grand View Research, the global plasmid DNA manufacturing market size was valued at $1,297.3 million in 2022 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 17.63% by 2030.  Increasing awareness about cell and gene therapy boosts industry growth. This is mainly due to a rise in cell and gene therapy products accepted to treat various diseases globally and the availability of approved gene therapy products.

Recent Developments

In recent years, Charles River has significantly broadened its cell and gene therapy portfolio with several acquisitions and expansions to simplify complex supply chains and meet the growing global demand for plasmid DNA, viral vector and cell therapy services.

In June 2023, CRL announced a collaboration with the Korean biotechnology company, Curigin, for adenoviral vector production. The gene therapy developer will leverage Charles River's market-leading expertise in CDMO solutions to support its preclinical and clinical trials. CRL also entered into a plasmid DNA manufacturing alliance with the INADcure Foundation. Through the partnership, the company aims to help the foundation deliver breakthrough treatments for INAD-afflicted patients.

The same month, Charles River introduced off-the-shelf lentiviral vector (LVV) packaging plasmids. These will provide a streamlined solution for the challenges of plasmid sourcing in cell and gene therapies. The addition of off-the-shelf LVV plasmids follows the launch of Charles River’s pHelper plasmids aimed at supporting AAV-based gene therapy programs and the eXpDNA plasmid manufacturing platform.

Price Performance

In the past six months, Charles River shares have dropped 10.4% compared with the industry’s fall of 9.5%.

Zacks Rank and Key Picks

Charles River currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space are Elevance Health, Inc. (ELV - Free Report) , Integer Holdings Corporation (ITGR - Free Report) and Patterson Companies, Inc.  (PDCO - Free Report) .

Elevance Health reported second-quarter 2023 adjusted EPS of $9.04, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.5%. Revenues of $43.38 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.5%. It currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Elevance Health has a long-term estimated growth rate of 12.1%. ELV’s earnings surpassed estimates in all the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 2.8%.

Integer Holdings reported second-quarter 2023 adjusted EPS of $1.14, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 15.2%. Revenues of $400 million surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 8.9%. It currently carries a Zacks Rank #2.

Integer Holdings has a long-term estimated growth rate of 12.1%. ITGR’s earnings surpassed estimates in all the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 8.4%.

Patterson Companies has an Earnings ESP of +5.66% and a Zacks Rank of 1. PDCO has an estimated long-term growth rate of 9.2%.

Patterson Companies’ earnings surpassed estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed once, with the average surprise being 4.5%.

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