The new cGMP facility will be designed to provide an end-to-end solution to advance cell therapy development and manufacturing

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Aerial view of the UCSF Mission Bay Campus. (Credit: Matt Beardsley/UCSF (PRNewsfoto/Thermo Fisher Scientific.)

Thermo Fisher Scientific and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) have partnered to advance the development and manufacturing of cell-based therapies.

Under the agreement, Thermo Fisher will construct and operate a 44,000ft2, advanced cell therapy development, manufacturing and collaboration centre.

The facility, which includes biomedical research facilities and hospitals, will be built on leased space on UCSF’s Mission Bay campus.

UCSF Chancellor Sam Hawgood said: “We expect breakthrough treatments for many different diseases and conditions to come from cell therapies.

“Establishing cell therapy manufacturing in such close proximity to our scientists, clinicians and patients will enable UCSF to catalyse innovation in living therapeutics and use the resulting discoveries to benefit our patients.”

The new facility will provide clinical and commercial cGMP cell therapy production services, along with related technology development support, to UCSF and other partners.

Set to open in 2022, the facility will also provide customers and UCSF researchers with access to Thermo Fisher’s portfolio of Cell Therapy Systems (CTS) reagents, consumables, and fit-for-purpose instrumentation and compliant software.

The CTS product portfolio works together, and helps easy transition from research to clinical manufacturing to address cell therapy production workflow challenges, said the company.

Thermo Fisher Scientific executive vice president and COO Mark Stevenson said: “We are bringing together UCSF’s leadership in the newest forms of cellular immunotherapy and Thermo Fisher’s extensive capabilities in cell therapy instrumentation, manufacturing and distribution.

“This powerful combination will provide customers – from emerging biotechs to large pharma companies – with integrated, end-to-end solutions to reduce costs and accelerate adoption of cell therapies, ultimately improving patient access to these transformative treatments.”