Dive Brief:
- National Resilience, which launched in 2020 with a promise to build “the world’s most advanced biopharmaceutical manufacturing ecosystem,” is teaming up with an institute focused on immunotherapies to accelerate the development of high-tech cancer treatments.
- Under the five-year agreement announced Wednesday, Resilience and the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy will create and spin off new cancer therapy companies. With $50 million in funding, the alliance envisions tapping discoveries in the Parker Institute’s network of research institutions and drawing on Resilience’s manufacturing technology and capacity.
- The company and institute plan to create a joint steering committee to seek out new investments and track progress. By working together, they can “deliver unparalleled access to innovation in cancer immunotherapy and manufacturing,” said John Connolly, chief scientific officer at the Parker Institute.
Dive Insight:
While recent years have seen scientists make major advances in cutting-edge treatments such as gene and cell therapies, manufacturing remains a significant hurdle. The complex, multi-step processes required are beyond the capabilities of a traditional pharmaceutical plant.
That’s where Resilience comes in. Established by Robert Nelsen, co-founder of the venture firm ARCH Venture Partners, the company began with more than $800 million in capital and an aim to dramatically increase production capacity for innovative medicines. Its board members and advisers include Nobel Laureate Frances Arnold and two former Food and Drug Administration commissioners, Scott Gottlieb and Mark McClellan.
In less than two years, Resilience has found a niche as a go-to manufacturing partner. Just last week, the company announced a joint venture with the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Investors clearly see a rising market for the company’s services, as Resilience completed two more rounds of financing in the past year, one for $600 million and another for $625 million.
In the Parker Institute, Resilience has a partner with a wide reach in cancer research. The institute, founded in 2016 with a $250 million gift from entrepreneur Sean Parker, has a network that includes Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Stanford Medicine and the University of Pennsylvania.