Celgene Completes First Phase of CAR-T Mfg Facility
Celgene has completed the first phase a new immunotherapy manufacturing center for chimeric antigen receptor (CAR-T) therapies at its Summit West campus in New Jersey.
Celgene says the 135,000-square-foot facility was completed months ahead of the original plan. Celgene expects to expand investigational programs and launch bb2121, its CAR-T therapy being developed for certain multiple myeloma patients in conjunction with its partner, bluebird bio, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based clinical-stage gene therapy company. With CAR-T technology, immune cells are removed from a patient, genetically modified and multiplied, and placed back into a patient to create an individualized therapy. Celgene has been manufacturing bb2121 in its facility in Warren, New Jersey, thus far for clinical trials.
Celgene is involved in cellular therapy development through its Celgene Cellular Therapeutics business that focuses on placenta-derived and other stem-cell therapies in multiple diseases. In January 2018, Celgene agreed to acquire Juno Therapeutics, a Seattle, Washington-headquartered biopharmaceutical company developing cancer immunotherapies, for $9 billion. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2018.
Source: Celgene