OrganaBio Acquires Excellos Operating Assets, Establishing Coast-to-Coast CDMO

OrganaBio has substantially acquired all operating assets of San Diego-based Excellos, establishing a bicoastal United States cell therapy CDMO.

Excellos, which independently spun out of the San Diego Blood Bank in 2021, now becomes Excellos Labs, an OrganaBio subsidiary. OrganaBio, headquartered in Miami, has current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) manufacturing and cell processing facilities in Miami and San Diego. Additionally, OrganaBio maintains regional cell processing laboratories in San Francisco and Irvine, Calif.

Now, Excellos becomes OrganaBio’s third wholly owned subsidiary. The others, both FDA-registered, are HemaCenter, for adult leukapheresis, and GaiaGift, for birth tissue and cord blood, both in Miami.

How Excellos Fits with OrganaBio

As OrganaBio manufactures GMP cells and blood products and provides cell isolation and cryopreservation services, the acquisition combines complementary capabilities. Excellos’ San Diego facility boasts, among other features, five International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 7 cGMP cleanroom suites. These can and will support autologous and allogeneic cell therapy manufacturing, cell isolation and enrichment, expansion, and fill-finish.

Excellos CEO Tom VanCott said the acquisition adds critical redundancy, and expands geographical reach and access to certain services.

“[It] is the best of both worlds, ensuring continuity for customers as we move into our next phase,” Van Cott said.

Advantages of Cell Therapy CDMOs

Cell therapy developers and patients waiting on their programs need partners to keep pace, according to OrganaBio CEO Justin Irizarry.

“Combining OrganaBio’s and Excellos’ infrastructure and teams lets us do that more reliably than either company could alone,” Irizarry said. “Our priority in the coming months is operational continuity for every customer of both companies.”

To that end, OrganaBio says full integration following the acquisition will happen over the next 12 months. Along with Excellos’ team, the company will focus on operational speed and quality, expanding services, and encouraging continued growth.

Overall, OrganaBio and Excellos’ combined customer base includes many of the top 20 global pharmaceutical companies, plus private biotechnology developers.

Other Pharma Industry Acquisitions

Check out Contract Pharma’s Pharmaceutical Industry Mergers & Acquisitions Roundup.