One for flat earth simple believers, page-3

UK firm The Cell Therapy Catapult has chosen to build a £55 million state-of-the-art cell therapy manufacturing centre in Stevenage.

Set to create 150 jobs, its positioning on the Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst campus will provide additional investment from global companies the firm says, as well support the SME biotech and UK life sciences sector.
Chief executive of the Cell Therapy Catapult Keith Thompson adds: “We’re excited to be making this announcement which demonstrates the investment the UK government is making to advance the industry into becoming a world leader in advanced therapy development and commercialisation.
“This facility will complement the existing UK capability, enabling companies to operate at the scale needed for Phase III clinical trials, and we look forward to working with global scientific and medical communities to assist in their research into products that have the potential to address many unmet medical needs.”
Expected to open its doors in 2017, the facility will be used for the manufacture of late-phase clinical trials and commercial supply of advanced therapeutic medicinal products – including cell and gene therapies.
Early forecasts provided by the firm suggest that companies using the centre can generate £1.2 billion of revenue by 2020 (80% via export).
Welcoming the announcement was business secretary Vince Cable: “This therapy is at the very cutting edge of medical research, and is using our own cells in the fight against life-threatening diseases including cancer. This state of the art facility in Stevenage will ensure Britain can be a real leader in this industry.”
Martino Picardo, who is the chief executive of the Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst says: “This is terrific news that we have met all the criteria for locating this facility here. Companies coming to the Cell Therapy Catapult’s Manufacturing Centre will also be able to access our expertise, networks and scientific facilities traditionally associated with multinational pharmaceutical companies.”
In its 2013 survey of Good manufacturing practice, the Cell Therapy Catapult identified manufacturing and supply chain as one of the barriers to the translation of research into commercially viable products. It says the UK is now strongly positioned for early clinical phase manufacturing and the large scale capacity centre will indeed help towards growing a UK-based global industry.
GE Healthcare Life Sciences chief executive Kieran Murphy adds: “The clinical science in cell therapy is making significant strides, and there is no doubt about the consensus: this is set to revolutionise medicine.
“The toughest nut for cell therapy companies to crack is to scale-up manufacturing and subsequent distribution of these therapies so they are affordable and accessible to patients globally: this manufacturing centre will help companies to crack that nut.”
In what is clearly a popular move, the ABPI and the BIA also released a joint statement praising the investment.
ABPI project director for manufacturing James Christie says: “The ABPI warmly welcomes this announcement. The decision to establish this centre is another step forward in the medicines manufacturing supply chain of advanced therapies' demonstrating the UK leading position in this area and it will help to ensure UK competitiveness in medicines manufacturing.”
Steve Bates who is the BioIndustry Association's chief executive, concludes: “The UK cell therapy industry has huge potential, and investments such as this will allow the sector to progress from a strong R&D base to the manufacture of commercial stage products, enabling the UK to become a landing pad in Europe for cell therapy. Today’s announcement represents another milestone in the establishment of the UK as a global leader in medicines manufacturing.”
Brett Wells