Cell & gene CDMOs: Expansions by AGC, Celonic, Resilience

AGC Biologics plans to expand its cell and gene therapy center; Celonic has a new production site and Resilience acquires a manufacturing facility in Canada. Great to have you here for BioProcess Insider’s CDMO round-up.

First up in our cell and gene contract development manufacturing organization (CDMO) round-up is AGC biologics which recently announced plans to expand its cell and gene therapy center located in Milan, Italy. The expansion will up its capacity and install viral vector suspension capabilities.

The firm acquired Molecular Medicine (MolMed) in March 2020 for $284 million which added two GMP Italian sites to AGC’s services, one in Bresso and one in Milan.

Image/iStock: marchmeena29

The Milan facility is scheduled to be fully operational in 2022 and will boast two additional floors to the suite as well as additional equipment on the floor that it currently occupies.

“I’m very pleased that we’ll be able to offer our current and future cell and gene therapy customers even more of what they need from our Milan facility,” said AGC Biologics chief business officer, Mark Womack. “This is but one of the important steps we are taking to ensure we keep pace with the evolving needs of the market.”

Celonic Group

Secondly, we have Celonic which has entered a long-term lease agreement for a new manufacturing site dedicated to cell and gene therapies in Switzerland at the Novartis-operated Life Science Park Rheintal.

“This expansion to the Life Science Park Rheintal demonstrates our commitment to address the growing demand for cell and gene therapy manufacturing,” said CEO, Konstantin Matentzoglu. “With its unique location and on-site services, this state-of-the-art facility will further boost Celonic’s expansion into the Cell & Gene space and enable us to offer large-scale ATMP GMP manufacturing.”

The firm has a two-phase expansion plan and expects the facility to be open for production by Q2, 2022. The expansion will see up to twenty clean room suites added as well as laboratories and offices. The new site will span across 91,500 square feet, with Celonic expecting to create up to 250 new positions in Stein, Switzerland.

Resilience

Thirdly, Resilience announced it has acquired a 136,000 square-foot facility in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada from Therapure Biopharma after buying its CDMO assets.

This is a separate transaction from its acquisition of Sanofi’s 310,000 square-foot plant in Boston, Massachusetts. However, both plants will see substantial investments as Resilience ups its manufacturing capacity and capabilities to make new therapies at both locations. The company has also offered existing plant staff employment and said it wants to add more staff to each facility.

The Canadian facility has already been approved by various regulatory bodies and is set to provide upstream, downstream, and aseptic fill-finish services.

“We have big plans for these facilities including investing in new capacity, applying new manufacturing technologies, creating jobs and bringing in new customers,” said CEO, Rahul Singhvi. “These locations will serve as hubs for the future of biopharma manufacturing, leading the way and shaping the future of Resilience.