Ark Therapeutics is using its expertise and spare capacity to move into the contract manufacturing sector and is hoping to sign deals to produce the DNA-based medicine.
Innovator companies are increasingly offering contract services or manufacturing to provide an additional source of revenue, make potentially important contacts in the industry and help develop in-house knowledge and expertise.
Ark has now taken this route and will launch itself as a contract manufacturing organisation (CMO) while continuing to develop its in-house pipeline. This consists largely of gene-based medicines and Ark believes the expertise and manufacturing capacity that it has developed in this field will be sought on a contract basis.
The company signed its first contract on July 1 and will now be producing vascular endothelial growth factor C in an adenoviral vector (Ad VEGF-C) for Oy Lx Therapies.
Contract revenues could go some way to overturning the £13.9m operating loss the company made in the first six months of 2009 and help support it until it receives marketing approval for one of its in-house products.
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