COLUMBUS, Ohio – JANUARY 10, 2022 – Forge Biologics, a gene therapy-focused contract development and manufacturing organization, announced today 2022 manufacturing expansion plans to meet the growing demand for gene therapy manufacturing. The expansion will coincide with an accelerated increase in headcount and expansion of the Hearth facility in Columbus, Ohio, both aided by continued investments in the company.
Forge has entered into a secured financing agreement with MidCap Financial that provides up to $80 million of borrowing capacity. This non-dilutive financing will support the facility expansion and new client offerings to be announced in 2022.
“We are excited to deliver on our goal of offering our clients expanded manufacturing capacity, while providing access to some of the largest suspension bioreactors available in the industry,” said Timothy J. Miller, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer, President, and Co-Founder of Forge. “This increased scale, combined with our automated fill-finish capabilities, positions Forge as an ideal partner for clients moving beyond the clinic to commercial launch and supply, particularly those needing to manufacture cGMP AAV.”
The larger scale bioreactor capacity available for clients will be supported by continued growth in staffing as the company grows towards 400 employees, which will now be accelerated by a grant received from the State of Ohio to support new hires over the next three years.
“Forge Biologics is a pioneering company established and rapidly growing right here in Ohio,” said JobsOhio President and CEO, J.P. Nauseef. “The world-class researchers, talent and investors in Ohio have created an environment where Forge can develop life-changing gene therapy advancements that can positively impact lives worldwide.”
Forge initiated the facility expansion in 2021 and is increasing the overall manufacturing footprint of the company to over 200,000 square feet of facility space, including 20 cGMP manufacturing suites, with the ability to add more suites in the current facility in the future.
The ongoing facility expansion significantly increases the number and capacity of Forge’s bioreactors, including installation of 5,000L cGMP bioreactors for large-scale client needs in clinical and commercial programs for use with Forge’s proprietary suspension HEK 293 IgnitionTM cell line. The expansion also adds automated cGMP fill-finish capabilities to Forge’s offerings, designed with a cleanroom background classification that meets European Medicines Agency requirements for late-stage clinical and commercial filling needs. Both the 5,000L bioreactors and automated filling systems are expected to be available for client use in the second half of 2022.
The additional funding brings Forge’s total financing to approximately $240 million. Forge previously secured $160 million in two prior rounds with the closing of a $40 million Series A financing in July 2020, and a $120 million Series B round in April of 2021.
As previously reported, Forge is virtually presenting at the 40th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference scheduled for January 11, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. ET. The presentation will be available on our website at https://forgebiologics.com/news/#events immediately following the presentation and for 30 days thereafter.
About Forge Biologics
Forge Biologics is a hybrid gene therapy contract manufacturing and clinical-stage therapeutics development company. Forge’s mission is to enable access to life changing gene therapies and help bring them from idea to reality. Forge has a 200,000 square foot facility in Columbus, Ohio, The Hearth, to serve as its headquarters. The Hearth is a custom-designed cGMP facility dedicated to AAV vector manufacturing and will host end-to-end manufacturing services to accelerate gene therapy programs from preclinical through clinical and commercial stage manufacturing. By taking a patients-first approach, Forge aims to accelerate the timelines of these transformative medicines for those who need them the most. To learn more, visit www.forgebiologics.com.
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Marina Corleto, M.N.O. – Forge Biologics
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Maria Escolar, M.D., M.S. – Forge Biologics
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Magdalena Tyrpien, M.B.A. – Forge Biologics
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BD@forgebiologics.com
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- Financing led by RA Capital Management with participation from Perceptive Advisors, Surveyor Capital (a Citadel company), Octagon Capital, Marshall Wace, and DriveCapital
- Proceeds to accelerate the expansion of the contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) capacity for production of cGMP adeno-associated viruses (AAV)
COLUMBUS, Ohio – April 29, 2021 – Forge Biologics, a gene therapy-focused contract development and manufacturing organization, today announced the closing of a $120 million Series B financing. The financing was led by RA Capital Management with participation from Perceptive Advisors and related affiliates, Surveyor Capital (a Citadel company), Octagon Capital, and Marshall Wace. Existing investors Perceptive Xontogeny Venture Fund and Drive Capital also participated. In connection with the financing, Matthew Hammond, Ph.D., of RA Capital, and Fred Callori of the Perceptive Xontogeny Venture Fund will join the Company’s Board of Directors.
“We are very pleased to be working with RA Capital and a strong syndicate of top-tier life sciences investors who share our vision as we now advance our growth as a global gene therapy manufacturing and development company,” said Timothy J. Miller, Ph.D., CEO, President and Co-Founder of Forge Biologics. “We have built Forge into a focused gene therapy development engine with a firm commitment to helping our clients provide potentially life-saving gene therapies to patients. We believe that focusing entirely on gene therapy will allow us to best serve our clients and patients by efficiently delivering high quality product.”
Forge will use the proceeds of this Series B financing to accelerate the expansion of its AAV manufacturing CDMO capabilities with cGMP production capacity, as well as operate its subsidiaries that are advancing novel AAV gene therapy programs. Forge brings a patients-first approach to accelerate the development of transformative medicines for those who need them most and is addressing the growing demand for gene therapy manufacturing capacity. Through its currently-operational 175,000 square foot cGMP facility in Columbus, Ohio, dedicated to AAV viral vector manufacturing, Forge offers end-to-end manufacturing services, including research and toxicology grade AAV production, to accelerate gene therapy programs from preclinical through clinical and commercial stage manufacturing.
“The success of complex biologics like AAV is exhausting existing manufacturing capacity around the industry. This financing will help to address this industry-wide capacity shortage by properly capitalizing an emerging gene therapy-focused CDMO capable of producing high quality cGMP product for its clients,” said Matthew Hammond, Ph.D., principal at RA Capital Management. “We are confident that Forge’s experienced team will become the trusted partner of innovative therapeutics companies, working collaboratively with clients to successfully deliver AAV manufacturing solutions.”
Through its subsidiaries, Forge is also working to advance a proprietary pipeline of novel gene therapies, including its lead program FBX-101 for the treatment of patients with Krabbe disease, a first-in-human gene therapy utilizing an adeno-associated virus (AAV) to deliver a functioning copy of the GALC gene intravenously to cells in the central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral organs.
Chardan Capital Markets acted as exclusive placement agent for the offering, with Ice Miller acting as legal advisor.
About Forge Biologics
Forge Biologics is a hybrid gene therapy contract manufacturing and therapeutic development company. Forge’s mission is to enable access to life changing gene therapies and help bring them from idea into reality. Forge has a 175,000 square foot facility in Columbus, Ohio, “The Hearth,” to serve as its headquarters. The Hearth is the home of a custom-designed cGMP facility dedicated to AAV viral vector manufacturing and will host end-to-end manufacturing services to accelerate gene therapy programs from preclinical through clinical and commercial stage manufacturing. By taking a patients-first approach, Forge aims to accelerate the timelines of these transformative medicines for those who need them the most. For more information, please visit https://forgebiologics.com.
Media Inquiries
Dan Salvo – Forge Biologics
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Magdalena Tyrpien – Forge Biologics
Vice President and Head of Business Development
BD@forgebiologics.com
Investor Relations
Christina Perry, MSA, CPA – Forge Biologics
Vice President, Finance and Investor Relations
Investors@forgebiologics.com