Expansion doubles capacity at UK cell and gene therapy manufacturing site

The Cell and Gene Therapy (CGT) Catapult, a UK government-backed agency, has doubled the capacity of its manufacturing center in Stevenage, Hertfordshire.

A planned build out of the expansion phase has been accelerated, with an additional six clean rooms being added at the center, which has been fully operational since April 2018 and received a license from the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA) later that year.

Depending on the process, each module can accommodate 20 parallel autologous cell processes or a bioreactor process up to 1,000L bioreactors for allogeneic cell or viral vector manufacture. The first companies are expected to start using this new space at the beginning of 2020.