In an interview with BioPharma BoardRoom, Eric Blair, GDMC’s Chief Business Officer, discusses the company's strategic use of Series A funding to pioneer advancements in genetic therapies. Blair sheds light on GDMC's plans for capital equipment investments, construction of cutting-edge cGMP manufacturing lines, and the pursuit of impactful partnerships in the US and APAC region. This conversation offers a glimpse into GDMC's commitment to reshaping the biotech supply chain and enhancing global healthcare outcomes

1. How does GDMC plan to utilize the Series A funding to drive its growth strategy and foster innovation in advanced genetic therapies?

Series A funds to purchase capital equipment and support the construction of highly efficient cGMP manufacturing lines and staffing to provide GMP-dedicated manufacturing to our foundational partners.  It will also be used to develop new advanced platforms for our multi-use facility using our background in synthetic biology and genetic design.

Singapore facilities and capabilities to increase efficiencies and lower costs to the global supply chain.  An early focus is on the GMP manufacturing of mRNA + LNP and GMP plasmids, with expansion into viral vectors and larger-scale commercial supply in the near future.

2. What specific types of collaborations is GDMC aiming for in the US and APAC region, and how will these partnerships contribute to improving healthcare and treatment outcomes?

GDMC will consider partnerships in the area of genetic diseases in both rare and larger populations, with modalities including Viral Vector (AAV, LVV, and retrogamma virus), mRNA + LNP, and GMP plasmids to support this (currently signed and executed partnerships in these areas).  The ideal partners are those who are looking for a partner to leverage R&D resources in design, and partnering to implement an optimized process designed for manufacturability. We have a strong support team for US-based innovators to benefit from the Singapore facilities. We also see rapid growth in the APAC region for cell and gene therapy biotechs needing an expert CDMO partner.

3. How does GDMC plan to contribute to the transformation of the global biotech supply chain, and what role does Singapore play in providing a compelling value proposition for customers?

GDMC will play a key role in reducing costs and improving global access to advanced CGNT (cell, gene, nucleic acid therapies) drug makers.  The key value proposition is a multi-modality, multi-region, expert team that is focused not on a service model but on the delivery of client goals and success-based outcomes.

5. Could you provide more details on how GDMC's Partnership for Drug Manufacturing Organization (PDMO) model supports companies from drug design to market entry, and how the collaborative design-based approach reduces manufacturing time for advanced therapy modalities? 

Our R&D, Analytical Development, and Process Development partner from the beginning of the process to identify the scope of work with the team and partner on accelerated but realistic timelines.  Our ability to achieve high levels of client success and satisfaction is dependent on our ability to have open collaborative conversations and guide clients with R&D, Development, and design for manufacturability.  The end depends on the beginning. We work closely with our clients in the beginning to support target identification, screening, discovery of novel promoters, implementation of synthetic switches, process development, analytical development, QC/QA from research to commercial, and expertly designed GMP manufacturing.  This minimizes or eliminates iteration or incorrect designs, thus leading to the right target the first time, and a design for manufacturability is expected to reduce the overall cycle time by >30%.