Ajinomoto agreed to buy Forge Biologics, an Ohio contract developer and manufacturer of gene therapies, for $620 million through its North American holding company. Ajinomoto's own disclosure put the price for Forge's equity at about $554 million (about ¥82.8 billion). Forge makes AAV viral vectors and plasmid DNA. The deal Ajinomoto announced the all-cash deal on November 13, 2023 and bought Forge through Ajinomoto North America Holdings. Closing was planned for December 2023, subject to US approvals. About Forge Forge was founded in 2020 in Ohio and is led by co-founder Timothy Miller. All its development and manufacturing happens in the Hearth, a 200,000-square-foot plant near Columbus with more than 300 staff at the time of the deal. It makes AAV viral vectors, the delivery vehicles used in many gene therapies, and the plasmid DNA used to make them. Ajinomoto's plan Ajinomoto's February 2023 mid-term plan named healthcare as one of four growth areas and gene therapy manufacturing as a next-generation business. It plans to combine its amino acid science with Forge's know-how, for example with cell culture media based on its patents, and to use Forge to enter cell therapy.
