Serum Life Sciences, a unit of India-based Serum Institute of India (SII), is set to invest more than £50m in UK-based Oxford Biomedica, a gene and cell therapy group.
In exchange for the investment, Serum Life Sciences will subscribe for 3,382,950 new ordinary shares of Oxford Biomedica at a price of £14.78 per share.
The subscription represents around 3.9% of the outstanding shares, and the price per share is based on the closing middle market price on 21 September 2021.
Admission of the subscription shares and closing of the transaction are expected on 27 September 2021.
Serum Institute of India chief executive officer Adar Poonawalla said: “Serum Life Sciences is delighted to have a strategic partnership with Oxford Biomedica, with the objective of building long term capacity in the UK.”
Oxford Biomedica intends to use the investment to fund the development of the fallow area at Oxbox, the firm’s 84,000ft2 manufacturing facility based in Oxford, UK.
The development is aimed at transforming Oxbox into an advanced manufacturing facility for the production of Covid-19 vaccines, and validation of various independent cGMP suites.
The expanded manufacturing facility is expected to start operations in mid-2023.
Developed in 2019, Oxbox comprises four GMP manufacturing suites, two fill and finish suites, along with supporting areas including warehouse, cold chain facilities and QC laboratories.
Currently, three suites are dedicated to producing the Covid-19 vaccine and one suite is producing lentiviral vector-based products for the company’s other partners.
The remaining 39,000ft2 at the site will be developed using the investment, to expand the manufacturing capacity for Covid-19 vaccines, and other products.
Oxford Biomedica chief executive officer John Dawson said: “We are delighted that Serum Life Sciences Ltd, a subsidiary company of Serum Institute of India, has made this strategic investment into Oxford Biomedica.
“Serum Institute of India has played a big part in the fight against Covid-19, as have we, and we look forward to a strong and collaborative relationship.
“This investment will allow us to expand capacity at Oxbox at a time when our business development pipeline has never looked stronger, and in addition, we expect this will create up to 120 new, highly-skilled, jobs.
“We look forward to maximising the many opportunities ahead, and to continuing to achieve our mission of delivering lifesaving therapies to patients, with the support and collaboration of Serum Life Sciences Ltd.”
Earlier this month, Serum Life Sciences has agreed to obtain a 15% stake in Biocon Biologics Limited (BBL), a subsidiary of Biocon, at a post-money valuation of about $4.9bn.
