San Sebastian, 20 October 2023. TAAV Biomanufacturing Solutions is pleased to announce the appointment of Sebastián Almeida as its new Biomanufacturing Director.
With over 20 years of technical operations and biomanufacturing experience, Mr. Almeida brings strong leadership skills and significant experience in biopharmaceutical product management, development and manufacturing. Mr. Almeida has specialized throughout his career in bioprocess development, technology transfer and manufacturing. He holds a degree in Molecular Biology from the CAECE University (Argentina) and Quality Management Postgraduate Diploma from the ITBA (Argentina). His extensive international experience has allowed him to manage and collaborate with multidisciplinary teams in South America, Europe, Asia and North America.
At TAAV, Mr. Almeida will lead the Manufacturing Department, where he will focus on advancing TAAV’s manufacturing capabilities to the next level. TAAV’s neDNA™ is an innovative technology that aims to enable clients to overcome challenges related to current industry solutions. neDNA™ is produced using a manufacturing process that eliminates the use of fermenters and bacteria, which are required in more common plasmid DNA manufacturing, resulting in the production of enzymatic DNA product with an improved safety profile for the manufacture of recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) gene therapy vectors.
About TAAV Biomanufacturing Solutions
TAAV Biomanufacturing Solutions, SLU (TAAV), a wholly owned subsidiary of Asklepios Biopharmaceuticals (AskBio) and Bayer AG, is a cGMP manufacturer of an enzymatic DNA material used for adeno associated virus (AAV) gene therapies. TAAV-manufactured neDNA™ is produced using a manufacturing process that eliminates the use of fermenters and bacteria, which are required in more common plasmid DNA manufacturing. Enzymatic manufacturing removes significant levels of bacterial contaminants, including plasmid backbone sequences resulting in the production of enzymatic “no end” DNA product with what we believe is an improved safety profile for the manufacture of recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) gene therapy vectors. The TAAV manufacturing process consistently produces large amounts of neDNA using technology licensed from Touchlight IP Ltd.† in reduced times, which can be measured in days versus the months that are typical when producing plasmid DNA. TAAV was founded in 2019 and became 100% wholly owned by AskBio in 2022. Company headquarters, manufacturing facilities and labs are in San Sebastian, Spain.
