In this exclusive interview with BioPharma BoardRoom, Mike Kadan, Chief Operating Officer of Vector BioMed, shares how the company is reimagining viral vector manufacturing through a purpose-built, modular platform designed to deliver high-quality lentiviral vectors at scale. Kadan discusses how Vector BioMed’s approach challenges traditional CDMO models, accelerates development timelines, and reduces costs—while empowering decentralized cell and gene therapy production in emerging markets. He also highlights the company’s role in global collaborations, including initiatives with Caring Cross in Brazil and Turkey, to make advanced therapies accessible and equitable across geographies

Vector BioMed’s platform is described as a “purpose-built infrastructure” for scalable, affordable lentiviral vector production.

Can you elaborate on how your model reimagines traditional manufacturing paradigms in gene therapy, and what distinguishes it from conventional CDMO models in terms of speed, cost-efficiency, and quality?

Vector BioMed (VBM) has streamlined its technology platform to right-size vector production. By focusing on the early stages of vector design and optimization, we’re not just enabling manufacturing, we’re helping define it. This approach reduces risk and helps ensure the manufacturability of high-quality vector products from the start. Every project that comes through our doors is treated with a commercial mindset, building viable solutions that support both speed and yield. With more than 20 years of direct lentiviral vector production experience, our team knows how to get it right the first time—and that consistency drives confidence.

At the same time, Vector BioMed is challenging the idea that progress comes with a high price tag. We believe innovation should focus on what truly matters for product development. By leveraging platform technologies and smarter manufacturing strategies, we can significantly reduce costs while still delivering what’s best for the product and patient. It’s about balancing financial feasibility with uncompromising quality.

On the vector side, our approach centers on the critical steps that lead to successful development. That starts with optimizing vector design early to ensure candidates meet both clinical and cost-of-goods (COGs) requirements. We prioritize speed—getting material into our partners' hands quickly, at key decision points—so evaluation and development can move forward without delay. For IND-enabling studies, we produce purified vectors using a scaled-down system that mimics GMP yields and purity, making the transition to clinical manufacturing faster and more predictable. Our production platform is robust, product-agnostic, and designed to deliver predictable quality attributes with a high likelihood of success the first time.

On the cell manufacturing side, Vector BioMed positions itself as a supplier of both process knowledge and direct solutions, including critical reagents developed by Caring Cross to enable a simple, yet effective cell therapy manufacturing platform. We believe the future of widely available, cost-effective treatments will be enabled by providing clinical centers with simple, robust procedures and necessary reagents to deliver the product to the patient — not by relying on expensive and complex automation that requires a centralized manufacturing approach.

The real future of cell and gene therapy lies in versatility. Success won’t be defined by automation alone, but by creating highly mobile products and processes that adapt to local needs.

Your work with Fiocruz Brazil and Caring Cross enabled the first CAR-T therapy production in Latin America.

What were the key enablers—technical, regulatory, or policy-wise—that made this milestone possible in Brazil, and how replicable is this model for other emerging markets?

While Vector BioMed did not directly lead the CAR-T launch in Brazil, we are proud to support this milestone through our nonprofit partner, Caring Cross, whose mission closely aligns with our own: to make advanced therapies accessible by design—not just aspiration.

The success in Brazil was made possible by a confluence of the right partners, policies, and vision. Caring Cross, in partnership with Fiocruz and INCA, led a groundbreaking initiative to localize the production of cell and gene therapies using decentralized manufacturing models. This initiative leveraged Fiocruz’s existing biomanufacturing infrastructure—originally scaled during the COVID-19 pandemic—and repurposed that capacity to support CAR-T therapy and viral vector manufacturing at significantly reduced costs.

A major enabler was the policy environment in Brazil, which actively prioritized health equity and national bioproduction capacity. By aligning with government ministries, investing in training, and deploying technology that can be standardized and replicated across different care centers, Caring Cross and its partners were able to introduce a model that reduced the projected cost of CAR-T therapy from $400,000 to under $35,000 per dose—a game-changing figure in both emerging and developed markets.

At Vector BioMed, we see this as a blueprint for global impact. While we focus on delivering a flexible and scalable viral vector manufacturing platform, our nonprofit partners like Caring Cross are demonstrating how those tools can be used to redefine the economics of access—through technology transfer, policy collaboration, and local empowerment.

This model is not just replicable, it’s essential. Whether in Brazil, Turkey, or future regions, we believe the only sustainable way to deliver cures is to decentralize production, reduce costs, and share knowledge. We’re honored to support a growing global ecosystem proving that life-saving therapies don’t need to come with life-altering price tags.

One of the most powerful narratives here is decentralization.

In what ways does the Vector BioMed system support the decentralization of cell and gene therapy manufacturing, and how can it empower governments or non-profits to achieve therapeutic independence?

Our decentralization strategy is twofold:

First, we deliver clear, practical guidance. We work closely with our partners to share detailed, proven protocols that walk them through every step — from upstream processing and transfection, all the way to quality control and release testing. These protocols are based on well-established practices and don’t require massive infrastructure or overly customized solutions. The goal is to make cell therapy manufacturing feel achievable — not overwhelming.

Second, we provide enabling tools like T-isopure™, our simplified, cost-effective solution for T cell enrichment — one of the most critical steps in CAR-T production. It’s designed to reduce process complexity while maintaining the integrity and performance needed for clinical use. We also provide the reagents necessary for release testing, which helps ensure product quality and regulatory compliance, even in decentralized settings.

The result is a right-sized, reproducible manufacturing platform that can be adopted across a wide range of geographies. Whether you're a national health system, a hospital network, or a nonprofit organization, our system enables the creation of regionally tailored therapy programs — without depending on centralized, high-cost commercial models.

Ultimately, we’re not just enabling access — we’re working to redefine what global access should look like. Localized, scalable, and equitable by design. That’s the future we’re helping build, and we’re proud to support the innovators and institutions making that future real.

From a scientific standpoint, viral vector production has long faced yield, consistency, and scale challenges.

What specific innovations (in upstream, downstream, or QC) does Vector BioMed bring to the table that overcome these hurdles and make industrial-scale production viable?

At Vector BioMed, we approach vector manufacturing as both an art and a science. While the industry has long grappled with challenges around yield, reproducibility, and scalability, our team has built a platform grounded in decades of hands-on experience — and the wisdom that comes from learning what doesn’t work.

One of our key innovations is the development of a right-sized, modular manufacturing process that balances quality, throughput, and economic viability. Unlike traditional vaccine manufacturing, which demands enormous batch sizes, cell and gene therapy production is often patient-specific or population-targeted — which means the metrics for "scale" are fundamentally different.

Our upstream process has been optimized to reliably produce high-titer vectors in a 1L batch — and that single liter can translate into nearly a thousand patient doses, depending on the indication. We’ve fine-tuned transfection conditions, vector design elements, and cell culture parameters to enhance yield consistency from run to run. This allows us to avoid unnecessary scale-up that inflates cost and introduces variability.

On the downstream side, we’ve implemented a simplified, high-recovery purification strategy that minimizes product loss while maintaining sterility and potency. The result is a robust process that delivers clinical-grade material without the complexity and risk of overly customized solutions.

From a quality control perspective, our platform integrates in-process analytics and post-production testing tailored specifically to the unique needs of lentiviral vectors. This ensures that every batch meets regulatory and therapeutic standards — not just for potency and purity, but also for reproducibility.

In short, Vector BioMed is redefining what “industrial-scale” means in the CGT space. It’s not about building the biggest facility — it’s about creating a replicable, cost-effective process that delivers real patient impact. That’s how we’re helping our partners move from preclinical to commercial with confidence.

There is increasing attention on building equitable access to advanced therapies.

How do you view the responsibility of biotech innovators—especially startups—in closing the global treatment gap, and how does your work with partners like KOQ Healthcare in Turkey reflect this mission?

At Vector BioMed, we believe equitable access to advanced therapies isn’t just an aspiration — it’s a global responsibility that demands collaboration across the biotech ecosystem. No single entity can close the treatment gap alone. Success requires alignment between CDMOs, CMOs, biotech startups, infrastructure providers, and regional healthcare systems. Each economy brings its own population needs and logistical hurdles, so the solution must be flexible by design.

For us, that means developing a platform that’s pre-built for both centralized and decentralized vector manufacturing models — so it can be replicated and adapted across diverse regions. The cost of goods (COGs), scalability, and site-specific adaptability all matter deeply when it comes to reaching patients in lower-resourced areas.

Our nonprofit partner, Caring Cross, is leading efforts to expand global access to advanced therapies. In Turkey, Caring Cross has partnered with Koç Healthcare which is one example of this mission in action. Through this partnership, Vector BioMed provides the scalable vector manufacturing platform that supports localized, point-of-care therapy production. By working with regional leaders, we’re helping lay the groundwork for sustainable, decentralized access to life-saving cell and gene therapies — without relying on a one-size-fits-all global rollout.

Ultimately, our role is to build smart, scalable solutions — but we also recognize that the broader responsibility lies with the full chain of developers, manufacturers, and healthcare stakeholders. Together, we have to not just create these therapies, but deliver them in ways that are equitable, repeatable, and regionally relevant.

Looking ahead, what are the most exciting upcoming milestones for Vector BioMed?

Could you share updates on expansion plans, new partnerships, or technology refinements that may continue to reshape the landscape of vector manufacturing and global gene therapy access?

At Vector BioMed, we’ve built a platform intentionally designed to evolve — not just to keep pace with the industry, but to uniquely push it forward. Our process is pre-built for scalability and flexibility, and we’re now entering one of the most exciting phases of growth across science, technology, and global access.

On the science front, we’re advancing efforts to incorporate novel targeting domains into our platform. These enhancements aim to improve transduction efficiency and reduce required doses, while also opening the door to future in vivo applications. We're also expanding our Off-the-Shelf (OTS) offerings for validated targets, further streamlining therapeutic development timelines.

We're introducing new tools to support the isolation and engineering of key cell populations, empowering partners to unlock more precise and potent therapies. These tools are designed to simplify the cell modification process and optimize outcomes across a wide range of therapeutic areas.

From a commercial and operational standpoint, we’re actively pursuing pre-commercial and commercial expansion initiatives. These include development of new facilities that can support GMP-compliant vector manufacturing at greater scale — critical to meeting global demand..

At its core, Vector BioMed is built to bridge science and impact. Whether it’s refining our platform, expanding our footprint, or forging new partnerships, we’re committed to transforming how these life-saving therapies are developed, manufactured, and delivered — across borders and beyond traditional models.