Cytiva opening Swiss single-use cell processing site

With work beginning weeks before the global pandemic, the plant has opened on schedule, boosting Cytiva’s capacity for single-use products aimed at supporting cell and gene therapy makers.

The 7,400 m² facility in Grens, Switzerland is set to have its official opening at the end of the month, strengthening bioprocess vendor Cytiva’s capabilities in providing single use kits for cell processing systems and their relevant consumables.

The plant is ready 28 months after Cytiva – then known as GE Life Sciences – first announced plans to bring it to fruition. The period of construction occurred during a global pandemic, which caused supply chain issues and problems across all industries, but the plant has been completed by Dutch-Swiss building firm Nemaco without issue.

Computer rendering of Cytiva facility in Grens, Switzerland. Image c/o Cytiva

“As the design was finalized prior to the pandemic, and all contractors and materials were sourced locally in Europe, we were able to maintain the project schedule and worked in accordance with local health authorities guidance,” Catarina Flyborg, VP of Cell & Gene Therapy at Cytiva told Bioprocess Insider.

“Cytiva planned this facility as a cornerstone of a long-term strategy to meet anticipated future needs, such as growth of the industry and our company,” she added. “The pandemic didn’t drive any changes in our plans to build the facility to Swiss Minergie standards.”

Minergie is a Swiss construction standard for new and modernized buildings supported by the economy, the cantons, and the federal government. Cytiva’s plant is powered by 100% renewable energy, fulfilling one of the principles of Minergie.

The plant will produce Sepax and Sefia systems for Cytiva customers – designed to automate processing steps during cell and gene therapy development –and Xuri consumable products. It also houses an R&D facility with several laboratories designed for multidisciplinary engineering and cell biology processing capabilities, and a customer training center.

According to Flyborg, supporting the cell and gene therapy sector is central to Cytiva’s strategic growth plan.

“Cell and gene therapies as novel treatments have the ability to transform healthcare,” she said. “With proven potential and progress being made to scale manufacturing of these therapies, we are excited to play our part and see the opening of a new site to support the industry.”