Biovest International

What Biovest International does

Biovest International, Inc. is a privately held U.S. biopharmaceutical holding company that emerged from Accentia Biopharmaceuticals in 2013 and is headquartered in Shoreview, Minnesota. The company historically focused on personalized immunotherapies, with its lead candidate BiovaxID, a personalized cancer vaccine for B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma developed in collaboration with the U.S. National Cancer Institute. BiovaxID was evaluated in three NCI-supported clinical trials demonstrating extended remission duration but ultimately did not receive European marketing authorization, effectively curtailing the therapeutic pipeline.

In 2016, Biovest spun off its instrument and contract manufacturing operations into Cell Culture Company, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary that now functions as the company's primary operating arm. Cell Culture Company supplies automated single-use perfusion bioreactor systems and a comprehensive suite of custom mammalian cell and protein manufacturing services, including cell line development and characterization, Master and Working Cell Banks, cell culture expansion, whole cell pellets and lysates, cell treatments and processing, downstream purification, analytical testing, and antibody production. The company holds several patents in cell culture and bioreactor system architecture and maintains ISO 9001:2015 certification (valid through December 2027) covering its Shoreview operations.

The firm serves customers globally across diagnostic, therapeutic, and animal healthcare industries through direct enterprise sales, with revenue tied to contract manufacturing services and bioreactor instrument sales. Leadership comprises President & CEO Carlos F. Santos, CFO Robert E. Farrell, and founder Christopher Kyriakides. The company has disclosed one funding event of $7M in 2010 with no subsequent institutional rounds, and the broader ownership structure beyond the Accentia lineage is not publicly documented.

Name

Biovest International

Legal name

Biovest International, Inc.

Website

https://biovest.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Biovest International is a privately held U.S. bioprocess holding company whose wholly-owned subsidiary, Cell Culture Company, supplies automated single-use perfusion bioreactor systems and custom mammalian cell and protein manufacturing services to diagnostic, therapeutic, and animal healthcare customers globally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Biopharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing

NAICS

Biological Product (except Diagnostic) Manufacturing (325414), Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing (3254)

SIC

Biological Products, (No Disgnostic Substances) (2836), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Pharmaceutical Preparations (2834)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYHLAGABAC

Biologics (mAbs/Recombinant Proteins) CDMO

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Life Science Tools & Services (CRO/CDMO/Lab Services)/Contract Development & Manufacturing Organizations (CDMO)

SECONDARYHLAAAKAA

Biologic API/Drug Substance Manufacturing Services

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Biotechnology & Biologics/Biomanufacturing Services

SECONDARYHLAAAKAF

Process Development & Tech Transfer Services (upstream/downstream)

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Biotechnology & Biologics/Biomanufacturing Services

SECONDARYHLAAAGAE

Cell & Tissue Banking (biobanking, cord blood/tissue)

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Biotechnology & Biologics/Regenerative Medicine & Tissue Engineering

Keywords

• Cell culture services
• Bioreactor systems
• Contract manufacturing
• Protein manufacturing
• Personalized immunotherapy

Headquarters

HQ city

Tampa

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Biovest International, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Cell Culture Company, LLC, provides automated single-use perfusion bioreactor systems and custom mammalian cell and protein manufacturing services, including cell line development, cell banking, culture expansion, purification, and antibody production. The company also developed BiovaxID, a personalized cancer vaccine candidate for B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma evaluated in NCI-supported clinical trials, and serves customers globally in the diagnostic, therapeutic, and animal healthcare industries.

Product overview

Biovest International is a biopharmaceutical company with a dual business structure following its 2016 spin-off. The company focuses on two main areas: (1) personalized immunotherapies headed by its lead product candidate BiovaxID™, a personalized cancer vaccine for B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma developed with NCI collaboration, and (2) as the parent company of Cell Culture Company, LLC (a wholly-owned subsidiary), which provides automated single-use perfusion bioreactor systems, cell line development and banking services, cell culture expansion and processing, protein production services including purification and analytical services, and antibody production services. The company serves customers globally in the diagnostic, therapeutic, and animal healthcare industries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Perfusion Bioreactors with Single-Use Disposables Automated single-use perfusion bioreactor systems for mammalian cell and protein manufacturing, leveraging Biovest's patented cell culture and bioreactor technology. Targeted at enterprises in the diagnostic, therapeutic, and animal healthcare sectors.
• Cell Line Development Services Custom services for developing cell lines for protein and antibody production. Targeted at biopharmaceutical and research organizations.
• Cell Line Characterization Services Services for characterizing cell lines used in biopharmaceutical production.
• Cell Banking & Storage Services Banking and storage services for cell lines, including Master Cell Banks (MCB) and Working Cell Banks (WCB).
• Cell Culture Expansion Services for expanding cell cultures for large-scale protein and antibody production.
• Whole Cell Pellets and Lysates Products and services providing whole cell pellets and lysates for research and commercial applications.
• Cell Treatments & Processing Processing and treatment services for cell-based products.
• Purification and Downstream Processing Services Protein purification and downstream processing services for biopharmaceutical manufacturing.
• Analytical Services Analytical testing services for protein and cell-based products.
• Antibody Production Services Custom mammalian cell-based antibody production services for biopharmaceutical customers.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBiovest collaborated with the U.S. National Cancer Institute to conduct three clinical trials evaluating BiovaxID, the company's personalized cancer vaccine product candidate for B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The trials demonstrated that BiovaxID increases the duration of cancer remission following chemotherapy and induces immune responses correlating with long-term survival.

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Lonza Group: Lonza is one of the world's largest biologics CDMOs offering mammalian cell line development, process development, and commercial biologics manufacturing—the broadest comparable in custom mammalian cell and protein manufacturing services.
• Thermo Fisher Scientific (Patheon CDMO): Thermo Fisher's Patheon bioproduction division offers biologics CDMO and bioprocess services across the full lifecycle—a broad incumbent comparable to the integrated CDMO and instrument offering of Biovest/Cell Culture Company.
• WuXi Biologics: WuXi Biologics operates one of the largest biologics CDMO networks with end-to-end cell line to commercial manufacturing capabilities—a broad incumbent comparable to Cell Culture Company's mammalian biomanufacturing scope, though at much greater scale.
• MilliporeSigma (Sigma-Aldrich Biopharma): MilliporeSigma, the life science arm of Merck KGaA, supplies bioprocessing consumables, single-use bioreactor components, and process development services—broadly comparable as a biomanufacturing tools and services incumbent.

Direct peers

• Sartorius Stedim Biotech: Sartorius is a leading supplier of single-use bioreactors (e.g., BIOSTAT) and bioprocess equipment for cell culture and protein production, with extensive CDMO-adjacent services—directly comparable to Biovest/Cell Culture Company's bioreactor and biomanufacturing offerings.
• Cytiva: Cytiva provides bioreactor systems (e.g., Xcellerex, WAVE) and a broad bioprocessing portfolio for mammalian cell culture and protein manufacturing—directly overlapping Biovest's automated single-use perfusion bioreactor systems and biomanufacturing services.
• KBI Biopharma: KBI Biopharma is a contract development and manufacturing organization specializing in mammalian cell line development, bioreactor process development, and analytical services—closely matching Cell Culture Company's protein/antibody production service stack.
• Repligen: Repligen develops and supplies bioprocessing products including perfusion technologies and single-use solutions for biologics manufacturing—directly adjacent to Biovest's perfusion bioreactor franchise.

Emerging players

• AbCellera Biologics: AbCellera specializes in antibody discovery and mammalian cell-based production platforms for therapeutic antibodies—an emerging comparator in custom mammalian cell and antibody production services relevant to Cell Culture Company.

Regional players

• BioReliance (by Merck/Sigma-Aldrich): BioReliance provides contract testing, validation, and cell banking services for biomanufacturing—a comparable in cell line banking, characterization, and analytical services to Cell Culture Company's cell banking offering.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/biovestintl
• Facebookfacebook.com/hollowfiberbio
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/accentia-biopharmaceuticals

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments4 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Biovest International