The Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult (CGT Catapult) celebrates the completion of six additional modules at its manufacturing center in Stevenage. The success of the center has seen the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult accelerate the planned build out of the expansion phase with an additional six clean rooms in the already constructed space on the second floor of the building.
The center has been fully operational since April 2018 and achieved MHRA licensure in August 2018. Depending on the process, each module can accommodate 20 parallel autologous cell processes or a bioreactor process up to 1,000L bioreactors for allogeneic cell or viral vector manufacture. The first collaborators are expected to start benefitting from this new space at the beginning of 2020.
Backed by over £75 million of funding, including investment from the UK Government’s Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund; the department of Business Energy and Industrial Strategy, from Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, and from the European Regional Development Fund, the center is providing the infrastructure and expertise to enable companies to develop their manufacturing capabilities and systems for large scale, commercial cell and gene therapy supply. Companies currently collaborating at the center are Adaptimmune, Autolus, Cell Medica, Freeline Therapeutics and TCR2 Therapeutics.
Located within the European cell and gene therapy cluster in Stevenage, the manufacturing center, alongside wider CGT Catapult initiatives, reinforces the UK Government’s ambition to support the rapidly growing global cell and gene therapy industry in the United Kingdom.
CGT Catapult was awarded an additional £3.36m in funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and £12m Medicines Manufacturing Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund to further support this expansion.
“We are very pleased to be able to double the existing capacity of the CGT Catapult manufacturing center with help from our partners Innovate UK and the European Regional Development Fund. The growth of this center is integral to the success of the industry in the UK, and we can now collaborate potentially with up to a further six companies to support them in developing their GMP manufacturing processes, preparing for large scale and commercial supply. The build out of this phase has been rapid using pre-prepared fallow space and off-site prefabricated building techniques,” said Keith Thompson, CEO, Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult. “The new capacity will come on line quickly, leveraging the existing MHRA licenses, installed quality and operational systems alongside the expertise developed by the Catapult and our collaborators at the center.”
“In its first year and half, the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult manufacturing center has gone from strength to strength and has established itself as a crucial part of the UK’s medicines infrastructure,” Dr. Ian Campbell, Interim Executive-Chair, Innovate UK, for UK Research and Innovation said. “This world-leading center is bringing manufacturing of pioneering treatments closer to patients and will complement the new Advanced Therapy Treatment Centers. By bridging the gap between scientific research and commercialization of the medicines of the future, this center, which we are proud to support, will play an ever-greater role in this vital sector.”