Porton Advanced and IQVIA backed Kun Tuo team to grow in China CGT market

Cell and gene therapy CDMO Porton Advance has teamed with IQVIA-founded Kun Tuo Medical to offer R&D, manufacturing and clinical trial services.

The partnership – financial terms of which were not disclosed – will see Porton use its manufacturing infrastructure for cell and gene therapies – which includes plasmid production - to support Kun Tuo’s range of trial development and management services.

Porton Advanced CEO Wang Yangzhou said the aim was to create an “end-to-end” services platform for cell and gene therapy developers seeking to access the Chinese market.

“Through our in-depth cooperation and integration of resources and advantages, both parties will help to promote the construction of the gene and cell therapy industry ecosystem and empower more new drugs to scale new level based on an integrated drug service platform, thereby allowing enabling public's early access to good medicines."

For Wang Ling, Kun Tuo general manager, the partnership is about tapping the fast-growing cell and gene therapy market.

"Cell and gene therapy is a new generation of breakthrough therapies after small molecule and large molecule targeted therapies, and it is also one of the most promising sectors of biopharmaceuticals at present.”

He added that “We hope that by joining hands with Porton Advanced, we can combine the expertise and strengths of both sides to provide domestic biopharmaceutical companies with a one-stop solution from drug R&D, clinical trials to commercialization."

Beijing-based Kun Tuo was founded by IQVIA in 2011 as a trial services provider for both the Chinese and International markets.

The clinical research organization (CRO) claims to have provided services for more than 1,000 drug trials.

Kun Tuo set up a dedicated team to conduct clinical trials of advanced therapy products in 2018 according to Wang Ling, who said the unit “has been taking the lead in the field of cell and gene therapy.”

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