MacroGenics is selling the manufacturing plant to Bora, a Taiwan-based CDMO, to raise cash to support the progress of its drug development pipeline.
Bora Pharmaceuticals has struck a deal to buy MacroGenics’ production plant for $122.5 million upfront, securing ownership of a facility that manufactures materials for companies including Incyte.
MacroGenics, a developer of antibody-based therapeutics, uses the Rockville, Maryland, site to produce drug substances for most of its clinical trials. The company also makes the drug substance for Margenza and Zynyz, cancer drugs that originated from its pipeline but are sold by TerSera and Incyte, respectively. MacroGenics planned to use the facility to make its own commercial products in the event of notching a regulatory approval.
Now, Bora—a Taiwan-based contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO)—is acquiring the facility and related warehouse operations for the upfront fee and up to $5 million in milestones. The $5 million is tied to the progress of the CDMO operation and professional development program services in 2027 and 2028.
The biotech expects about 140 of its employees to transfer to Bora as part of the deal. The employees will operate the 11,000 liters of capacity at the facility to serve the site’s existing customers and any new clients Bora onboards.
MacroGenics plans to strike a manufacturing and supply deal with Bora to support process development and drug substance production for its internal pipeline. The agreement will allow MacroGenics to retain access to development and manufacturing capabilities while generating nondilutive capital to lengthen its cash runway, which extended into 2027 before factoring in the sale.
The deal comes 21 years after MacroGenics established in-house manufacturing capabilities. While some biotechs rely on contract manufacturing organizations even after bringing drugs to market, MacroGenics’ management opened a manufacturing facility five years after founding the business. The choice to revert to third-party reliance marks a sharp shift in MacroGenics’ strategy.
MacroGenics’ CDMO plant is an “embedded part of the business” and “benefiting from all the onshoring interest,” CEO Eric Risser said at a TD Cowen event in March. The company’s CDMO sales grew 300% last year, jumping to $52.6 million, and Risser said that by the third quarter the unit was generating $19 million to $20 million of quarterly revenue.
For Bora, buying the facility extends its long history of expanding through acquisitions. Since 2013, Bora has bought facilities from Eisai, Impax Laboratories, GSK, Eden Biologics and Upsher-Smith Laboratories. The deals have expanded Bora’s capabilities and geographic footprint, moving the CDMO into biologics and giving it a presence in the U.S. GSK signed a $250 million, five-year deal with Bora in February.
