BOSTON & OKLAHOMA CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Alloy Therapeutics and Echo Investment Capital today announced the formation of Wheeler Bio, a new biomanufacturing company built to accelerate the translation of therapeutic innovation into clinical impact. Wheeler’s comprehensive discovery-to-IND programs are designed to provide emerging biopharma companies a faster and more predictable path to the clinic.
With an initial focus on antibody therapeutics, Wheeler’s biomanufacturing programs will seamlessly integrate with Alloy Therapeutic’s preclinical antibody platforms and discovery capabilities. Wheeler’s state-of-the-art development and cGMP operations and business headquarters are located in Oklahoma City, OK and are supported by a pilot lab inside Alloy’s Boston, MA facility.
“Accelerating the translation of therapeutic innovation into clinical impact in the biopharma industry requires new kinds of biomanufacturing businesses. We created Wheeler Bio to provide best-in-class biomanufacturing speed, capabilities, and service to the next generation of drug developers,” stated Dr. Jesse McCool, co-founder and CEO of Wheeler. “Through our parallel integration with discovery and unique partnering model, we will be able to offer customers groundbreaking turnaround times at fair prices.”
“Finding a CDMO that cares as much about your preclinical batches as your commercial batches is a challenge we regularly face in drug development. Alloy is excited to partner with Wheeler and is confident that Jesse and his team will deliver the turnkey and high-quality CMC services that Alloy’s ecosystem of partners require to achieve their clinical goals,” said Errik Anderson, Founder and CEO of Alloy Therapeutics. “What Wheeler is building aligns completely with Alloy’s mission to democratize access to foundational drug development technologies and capabilities.”
Wheeler launched its Boston-based operations in Q1 2021 and will open its 35,000 sq. ft. cGMP Oklahoma City facility in Q4 2022. Through its partnership with Echo Investment Capital, Wheeler will have preferred access to expand its biomanufacturing offering to commercial scale production in the recently announced 400,000 sq. ft. manufacturing complex in the Oklahoma City Innovation District led by commercial real estate developers Richard Tanenbaum and Mark Beffort.
“Oklahoma City’s investment in bioscience and workforce development over the last 30 years has allowed Echo to rapidly enter the biomanufacturing arena with a compelling offering that connects coastal biopharmaceutical companies to critical resources at industry leading customer-first terms,” said Christian Kanady, Founding Partner of Echo Investment Capital. “Our close affiliation with the OKC Innovation District and the greater healthcare ecosystem allows us to connect Wheeler’s customers with exceptional development and clinical resources like Wheeler, Stephenson Cancer Center, Harold Hamm Diabetes Center, and Oklahoma Children’s Hospital.”
About Wheeler Bio:
Wheeler Bio is a new biomanufacturing company designed to accelerate the translation of therapeutic innovation into clinical impact. Through parallel integration with pre-clinical discovery, Wheeler is democratizing access to comprehensive discovery-to-IND programs with its rapid, high-quality biomanufacturing and portable CMC platform. With an initial focus on antibody therapeutics, the company is partnered with Alloy Therapeutics to offer emerging biopharma companies a faster and more predictable path to the clinic by avoiding the critical gaps between discovery and early development. Wheeler’s unique partnering model is built on shared success, creating a singular focus on quality, speed, and lasting collaborations. Wheeler Bio is headquartered in Oklahoma City with pilot labs located inside Alloy Therapeutics’ Boston, MA Facility.
Join the Wheeler Bio community by visiting wheelerbio.com, following Wheeler on LinkedIn, or scheduling a chat with Wheeler’s co-founder and CEO at wheeler.com/ceo.
About Alloy Therapeutics
Alloy Therapeutics is a biotechnology ecosystem company empowering the global scientific community to make better medicines together. Through a community of partners, Alloy democratizes access to tools, technologies, services, and company creation capabilities that are foundational for discovering and developing therapeutic biologics. The company facilitates affordable, non-exclusive access to the entire drug discovery community from academic scientists, small and medium biotech, to the largest biopharma. Alloy’s lead offering, the ATX-Gx™ platform, is a human therapeutic antibody discovery platform consisting of a growing suite of proprietary transgenic mice strains. Founded in 2017 and privately funded by visionary investors, Alloy is headquartered in Boston, MA with European labs in Cambridge, UK. As a reflection of Alloy’s relentless commitment to the scientific community, Alloy reinvests 100% of its revenue in innovation and access to innovation.
Join the Alloy Therapeutics community by visiting alloytx.com, following Alloy on LinkedIn, or scheduling a 15-minute chat with Alloy’s Founder and CEO at alloytx.com/ceo.
About Echo Investment Capital
Echo Investment Capital is a multi-disciplinary investment firm with experience managing more than $1.2 billion in capital across industries. Headquartered in Oklahoma City, Echo consists of a team of strategic investors and builders funding innovation in energy, media, national security, life sciences, and real estate. The team focuses on identifying strong investment opportunities and connecting them with often-overlooked midwestern assets to unlock differentiated opportunities and returns for investors. Echo invests in and builds best-in-class companies by combining a globally connected sourcing network, deep diligence practices, and a strong operational backbone to support its portfolio. Learn more about Echo by visiting echoinvestmentcap.com or following Echo on LinkedIn.
