Bamboo Therapeutics, a biotechnology company focused on developing gene therapies for rare neurological diseases, has acquired the viral gene therapy manufacturing facility—Vector Core—from the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, NC. Financial Details were not disclosed.

The Vector Core was founded in 1993 as a full-service viral vector production organization with extensive experience in vector design and process development, as well as manufacturing of research and clinical grade vectors. This 11,000 square foot facility has produced multiple research grade and clinical grade lots for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, as well as universities and foundations.

Bamboo has developed a proprietary suspension cell-based production platform that utilizes serum-free/chemically defined media to increase scalability, efficiency and purity. The proprietary system is designed to decrease the amount of processing steps necessary in methods using adherent cells, while also reducing the variability and shortcomings associated with using animal serum.

“We believe that having a leading manufacturing facility fully integrated into our business provides flexibility and a competitive advantage,” said Jude Samulski, scientific founder and chairman, Bamboo Therapeutics. “We anticipate rapidly moving our programs forward, including our DMD program, which is expected to enter the clinic in early 2017.”