PBS Biotech Inc. recently purchased Integrity CMi, a move that enables the biotech equipment developer to manufacture its products in-house. Terms of the deal between the two Camarillo-based companies were not disclosed. The acquisition was announced Aug. 23. Integrity CMi’s manufacturing facility offers high-tech manufacturing clean rooms that are certified to meet federal and international standards, which PBS now can use to make disposable bags and related plastic parts for its bioreactors, said PBS Co-founder and CEO Brian Lee. “We prefer to be more stringent than what the industry needs,” Lee said. “This is definitely a plus — to acquire this capability in house.” The acquisition comes as PBS prepares to go to market with its bioreactor, a piece of equipment used by drug makers and other life sciences companies to grow cells. PBS had been using Integrity for manufacturing its parts prior to its acquisition. The two companies are located less than a mile apart from each other. There will be no impact to the workforce as a result of the deal, Lee said. Integrity CEO Oscar Garza will stay on as head of manufacturing at PBS. PBS will complete existing contracts for Integrity’s customers, many which are medical device makers, before the company’s facility is completely turned over for PBS parts, Lee said. In the Los Angeles area, the biotech industry has a presence in cities along the Ventura (101) Freeway, although the region still trails the Silicon Valley and San Diego, in terms of hosting a vibrant cluster of companies. The 101 corridor is anchored by Amgen, the pharmaceutical giant based in Thousand Oaks, and a few other large drug makers. It is not uncommon for startups and early-stage life sciences companies to have been started by former Amgen employees, of which Lee is among them. “There are good talented people available, so being in Camarillo fits in well with the business needs,” Lee said. Brent Reinke, co-founder of the Bioscience Alliance, a Conejo Valley-based industry support group, said the fact that local device manufacturers and companies are making equipment created for area drug development firms is an encouraging sign that a vibrant biotech cluster can emerge. Former Amgen employees and other entrepreneurs are more likely to start a device manufacturing company than they are a drug development company, he said. There is a shorter timeline for designing or developing a product, versus a drug, and it takes less money to bring that product to market, Reinke said. PBS officials say the company’s bioreactor is an improvement over existing stainless steel bioreactors, which require extensive cleaning and sterilizing between each use. The PBS model uses a plastic liner bag to grow the cells that can be thrown away and eliminates the need to clean the equipment, Lee said. “It is cheaper and faster and improves the efficiency of operations,” Lee said. “That is the new technology we are trying to bring to the biotech industry.” The company has made some early sales and has attracted the attention of biotech companies and universities in the U.S. and abroad, Lee said. In July, PBS signed an agreement with Green Cross Medical Sciences Corp. to distribute the bioreactors in South Korea, the fourth largest biopharma industry in Asia. PBS was founded in 2007 by Lee and Gregory Zeikus, former CEO of the Michigan Biotech Institute. The Economic Development Collaborative – Ventura County gave PBS a $250,000 loan in 2009, which was used to get the company operating. PBS also received a federal grant from the Pentagon for use of its bioreactor in response to bioterrorism, Lee said. PBS was selected to receive the loan because of Lee’s vision to move PBS’s product into mass production and because of the company’s ability to do some immediate hiring, said Bruce Stenslie, president and CEO of the collaborative. Approving PBS for the loan also showed support for the biotech industry in the county, Stenslie said. “The idea that we have an industry sector that is primed to do more diversification and growth, an investment in of those (companies) makes good sense,” he said.
Biotech Firm Gains Muscle
