Forge Biologics Raises $90 Million To Expand Gene Therapy CDMO

Columbus, Ohio-based Forge Biologics, a gene therapy-focused contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), has raised $90 million in a Series C financing round, bringing its total funding raised to date to $330 million. The funding will be used to expand CDMO services, including technologies, manufacturing systems, cell lines, and more, the company said. 

The Series C round was co-led by Drive Capital and Aisling Capital with participation from an undisclosed investor. The round follows Forge’s $120 million Series B last April, which was led by RA Capital Management. 

Hybrid CDMO and Gene Therapy Developer

Forge takes a hybrid approach to gene therapy, offering CDMO services as well as developing its own pipeline. The company runs a 200,000-square foot cGMP facility called “the Hearth” that specializes in manufacturing adenovirus-associated viral (AAV) vectors, the delivery component of gene therapies. To manufacture the materials, the Hearth contains 20 cGMP suites that utilize 50L, 500L, 1000L, and 5000L bioreactors. 

The company’s pipeline consists of a Phase 1/2 asset, FBX-101, for Infantile Krabbe Disease and a proof-of-concept candidate, FBX-201. 

Recent CDMO Partnerships with Solid And Ray

In March, Forge established a CDMO partnership with Ray Therapeutics to bring scale up engineering and production for Ray’s lead optogenetic program, Ray-001, which targets retinitis pigmentosa, a retinal disorder. 

Forge is also offering its platform process to Solid Biosciences in another CDMO collaboration formed last October, which will focus on SGT-003, Solid’s gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

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Joy Lin

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