Advanced Medicine Partners Executes Additional $32 Million Financing Agreement led by Deerfield Management, Appoints Two New Board Members

  • Financing will bring total raised from Deerfield Management, ARCH Venture Partners, and other investors to $60 million
  • Ray Kaczmarek and Felix Hsu appointed to Board of Directors, expanding the company’s contract manufacturing expertise
  • Kaczmarek to serve as Executive Chair of the Board

DURHAM, North Carolina – June 5, 2024 – Advanced Medicine Partners, an organization that delivers process development, manufacturing, analytical development and testing for advanced therapy products with a specialty in viral vectors for gene and cell therapies, today announced a new financing agreement led by Deerfield Management, with additional support from ARCH Venture Partners and other investors.  Upon completion of this latest financing round, the total direct investment in Advanced Medicine Partners since its separation from Jaguar Gene Therapy will tally up to $60 million.

Advanced Medicine Partners also announced the appointments of Ray Kaczmarek and Felix Hsu to the company’s Board of Directors. Mr. Kaczmarek will serve as Executive Chairman. Existing members of the Board include Jonathan Leff, Partner at Deerfield Management Company and Chairman of the Deerfield Institute; Elise Wang, Partner and Head of Private Equity Capital Markets at Deerfield Management Company; David Greenwald, Ph.D., Vice President of Business Development at Deerfield Management Company; and Andrew Knudten, CEO of Advanced Medicine Partners.

“The gene and cell therapy space is at an exciting inflection point and in need of new manufacturing solutions that can efficiently and reliably bring promising precision therapies to patients at scale,” said Jonathan Leff. “We are pleased to support Advanced Medicine Partners and its newest board members with additional capital, helping the company realize its mission to address capacity constraints across the industry while enhancing quality in the design and manufacturing of this therapeutic class.”

“Ray Kaczmarek brings deep knowledge of CDMO operations and biopharmaceutical manufacturing to Advanced Medicine Partners, and his leadership philosophy aligns well with our distinct company culture,” said Mr. Knudten. “Our board will also greatly benefit from Felix Hsu’s proven expertise in building out a successful CDMO business. Both of these experienced leaders will be invaluable resources as we continue to accelerate our company’s growth and deliver best-in-class manufacturing and analytics to our partners.”

Mr. Kaczmarek is a seasoned biopharmaceutical leader with more than 20 years of experience in manufacturing and development. Previously, he served as Chief Executive Officer of Genezen Laboratories, Senior Vice President of GMP Operations for TriLink Biotechnologies, President of Nitto Avecia Pharma Services, and Vice President of Commercial Manufacturing and Supply Operations for Pacira Biosciences, Inc. He is also a proud veteran of the United States Army.

“I’m excited to join Advanced Medicine Partners and contribute to the company’s strategic planning as well as support the strong leadership team,” said Mr. Kaczmarek. “I’m confident Advanced Medicine Partners has the expertise, track record and best-in-class platform necessary to be the gold standard in manufacturing and analytics for gene and cell therapies in the eyes of regulators, biopharmaceutical companies and investors.”

Mr. Hsu is a C-suite executive whose career spans more than 30 years of focus on building businesses and delivering revenue and profit growth. He previously served as Senior Vice President of WuXi AppTec and President of WuXi AppTec Advanced Therapies, Senior Vice President of WuXi AppTec and President of the U.S. Business Unit, and Vice President of Supply Chain Integration at Medtronic. He is also a co-founder, CEO, and Chairman of the Board of the Brain Cancer Research Alliance, which raises awareness and funding for brain cancer research to enable new treatment options.

“I’m pleased to join the Board of Directors for Advanced Medicine Partners during this critical building phase of the company,” said Mr. Hsu. “I look forward to working with other board members and the executive leadership team to ensure the company produces consistent growth and profitability.”

ABOUT ADVANCED MEDICINE PARTNERS
Advanced Medicine Partners, LLC is driven to accelerate the development of innovative advanced medicines to enable partnering companies to make a positive difference for the patients they serve. With one of the most experienced genetic medicines teams in the industry – at all levels, from bench to boardroom – the company uses its expertise to produce best-in-class advanced therapy products and analytics with a specialty in viral vectors for gene and cell therapies. Advanced Medicine Partners’ exclusive manufacturing platform consistently produces yields that are among the highest in the industry and purity profiles that continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible. For more information, please visit www.ampgtx.com and follow Advanced Medicine Partners on LinkedIn.

ABOUT DEERFIELD MANAGEMENT

Deerfield is an investment management firm committed to advancing healthcare through investment, information and philanthropy. The Firm works across the healthcare ecosystem to connect people, capital, ideas and technology in bold, collaborative and inclusive ways. For more information, please visit www.deerfield.com.

Advanced Medicine Partners Launches to Set New Standard for Manufacturing and Testing Advanced Medicines

  • New company, spinning out from Jaguar Gene Therapy with funding led by Deerfield Management Company, created to provide best-in-class chemistry, manufacturing and controls (CMC) capabilities for advanced medicines, including gene and cell therapies, and address product quality and scalability issues facing many highly technical medicines
  • Experienced management and technical team who directed CMC work for numerous commercially available therapeutics, including three globally approved gene therapies
  • Operational infrastructure is in place today to support process and analytical development, quality control (QC) testing and full-scale Investigational New Drug Application (IND) enabling manufacturing – good manufacturing practice (GMP) suites are in progress for clinical and commercial manufacturing
  • Company will continue to lead CMC efforts for Jaguar Gene Therapy’s pipeline programs

DURHAM, North Carolina – January 17, 2024 – Advanced Medicine Partners, an organization that delivers process development, manufacturing, analytical development and testing for advanced therapy products, today announced its launch from Jaguar Gene Therapy with funding led by Deerfield Management Company, with additional investors including ARCH Venture Partners, Nolan Capital and others. The newly independent company is helmed by a team of experts who were directly responsible for the CMC efforts for numerous commercially available therapeutics including three globally approved gene therapies. The organization will continue to lead CMC efforts for Jaguar Gene Therapy’s pipeline programs, will support CMC work for Deerfield academic projects and private portfolio companies, and has initiated work for several biotech and pharmaceutical clients.

“Advanced Medicine Partners is a science- and mission-driven organization made up of one of the most experienced genetic medicines teams in the industry, and we are driven to deliver products and services that aim to set a new standard in the manufacturing and testing of innovative therapies,” said Andrew Knudten, CEO of Advanced Medicine Partners. “With so many biotechnology companies being slowed or halted due to manufacturing challenges including product quality and scalability, we have the experienced people and technology to deliver what’s acutely needed right now – therapeutic product with purity and potency levels that exceed expectations of partnering companies and regulators, and that will potentially bring positive benefit to patients.”

Advanced Medicine Partners has a proprietary and proven development platform and has established a robust and reproducible adeno-associated virus (AAV) manufacturing process, which is among the most productive in the industry and consistently generates industry-leading functional full capsid ratios. Advanced Medicine Partners’ process has been used with multiple genes of interest as well as multiple wild-type AAV serotypes and engineered capsids. This manufacturing process prioritizes patient safety while reducing cost of goods and will strive to set the standard for what regulatory agencies expect and patients deserve. The company has also developed a suite of platform analytical methods that can be licensed and offers assay development services.

Advanced Medicine Partners brings extensive operational experience from Jaguar Gene Therapy and other biotechnology companies, including AveXis, Novartis and Amgen. The Advanced Medicine Partners team has manufactured upwards of 350 total non-GMP batches and supplied over 20 preclinical studies, including IND-enabling efficacy and good laboratory practice (GLP) toxicology studies, as part of Jaguar. In addition to Advanced Medicine Partners’ manufacturing and analytical testing capabilities, the company offers GMP tech transfer capabilities and virtual CMC support.

Advanced Medicine Partners currently operates with more than 33,000 square feet of lab, office and warehouse space in Cary and Durham, North Carolina. The company is in the process of building out a 174,000-square-foot GMP manufacturing facility in Durham. Advanced Medicine Partners has the ability to build dedicated capacity for partnered companies in this new facility.

“We are very pleased to partner with the highly experienced team at Advanced Medicine Partners,” said Jonathan Leff, Partner at Deerfield Management Company. “With the demonstrated track record of the leadership team, the company brings much needed expertise and capability to the development and manufacturing of advanced products such as gene and cell therapies.”

ABOUT ADVANCED MEDICINE PARTNERS
Advanced Medicine Partners, LLC is driven to accelerate the development of innovative advanced medicines to enable partnering companies to make a positive difference for the patients they serve. With one of the most experienced genetic medicines teams – at all levels, from bench to boardroom – in the industry, the company uses its expertise to produce best-in-class advanced therapy products and analytics. Advanced Medicine Partners’ exclusive manufacturing platform consistently produces yields that are among the highest in the industry and purity profiles that continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible. For more information, please visit www.ampgtx.com and follow Advanced Medicine Partners on LinkedIn.

ABOUT JAGUAR GENE THERAPY
Jaguar Gene Therapy, LLC is dedicated to accelerating breakthroughs in gene therapy for patients suffering from severe genetic diseases including those that impact sizeable patient populations. The company is made up of a proven team of experts who have first-hand experience in bringing novel gene therapy treatments to patients and their families. Jaguar is rapidly advancing an initial pipeline of three programs. The company’s lead program, with a pending IND, targets severe neurodevelopmental disorders caused by mutations or deletions in SHANK3 including a genetic form of autism spectrum disorder and Phelan-McDermid syndrome. The second pipeline program targets Type 1 galactosemia and the third targets Type 1 diabetes. Jaguar partners with Advanced Medicine Partners, soon to be spun out from Jaguar, to produce its therapeutics. For more information, please visit www.jaguargenetherapy.com and follow Jaguar Gene Therapy on LinkedIn.

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Contact:
Kate Neer
media@ampgtx.com
(815) 978-3891