With 60 million pounds sterling ($81.4 million) raised through recent share sales, the CDMO OXB has its eyes on a U.S. expansion.

In a sizable share placement, the cell and gene therapy-focused company, formerly known as Oxford Biomedica, sold more than 12.2 million new shares at 4.31 pounds ($5.85) per share, the company said in a Friday release. The price was a 1.93% discount to the company's Aug. 14 closing price.

In addition, certain existing shareholders purchased another tranche of 1.7 million shares at the same placing price, the company added.

The proceeds will go toward “strategic investments” to expand the company’s U.S. commercial scale capacity, allowing it to address “growing client demand” across all clinical phases as well as commercial supply, OXB explained. 

“This placing represents a compelling opportunity to fund expansion of commercial-scale capabilities in the U.S. alongside other strategic investments in order to meet growing client demand,” CEO Frank Mathias noted in an Aug. 14 announcement of the proposed placing. “These investments will support above-market growth, stronger profitability and an increased share of the growing viral vector market.”

The money will largely go toward existing sites, according to the proposal, but it could help fund the acquisition and development of other facilities. OXB’s existing U.S. site features four vector substance suites and one vector production suite housed in a 96,000-square-foot plant in Bedford, Massachusetts.

OXB hopes to create an end-to-end CDMO offering in the U.S. with fill-finish capabilities alongside drug substance manufacturing. 

Besides its U.S. site, the company operates two facilities in France and one in the U.K. The investments should provide revenue from 2026, according to OXB. 

For 2025, OXB is expecting to generate between 160 million pounds ($217 million) and 170 million pounds ($230 million).

OXB’s U.S. ambitions are the latest in an expansion kick that's been running over the last few years. In 2023, the CDMO shelled out 15 million euros ($16 million) to take on French CDMO ABL Europe, allowing it to expand viral vector capabilities.