CGT Catapult and Quell Therapeutics enter manufacturing collaboration
pharmafile | September 24, 2021 | News story | Medical Communications |
CGT Catapult and Quell Therapeutics have announced a collaboration to facilitate an expanded manufacturing footprint focusing on the manufacturing capacity of CGT’s specialist large-scale manufacturing modules at its centre in Stevenage.
The collaboration will add a second Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) facility to Quell’s manufacturing operations, which will aid the development of its multi-modular engineered Treg cell therapies for clinical trials.
Iain McGill, Chief Executive Officer of Quell Therapeutics, said: “Our agreement with CGT Catapult is an important strategic step that gives us the flexibility to scale our production capacity, which is crucial to the success of our business both near term, as we prepare for our first clinical trial with QEL-001, and longer term, as we advance our pipeline of novel engineered Treg cell therapies in neuroinflammatory and autoimmune diseases.”
The expansion of the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult facility in Stevenage has received £3.36m of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020.
Matthew Durdy, Chief Executive Officer at the CGT Catapult, said: “We are delighted to welcome Quell Therapeutics as the latest pioneering company to collaborate at the CGT Catapult Stevenage.
“Quell is a ground-breaking company with leading technology which is progressing engineered Treg cell therapies into the clinic. We are pleased to be able to provide them with the capabilities and collaboration they require to execute their ambitious growth plans.”
The Stevenage Manufacturing Innovation Centre allows companies developing cell and gene therapies to develop their manufacturing processes at scale to GMP standards, providing expertise and facilities for development.
Bernd Schmidt, VP Product Delivery at Quell Therapeutics, said: “The Stevenage CGT Catapult Manufacturing Innovation Centre is a proven model that enables emerging cell and gene therapy companies to further develop their own GMP manufacturing capability at one of the world’s premier centres for the development of advanced therapies. I am very excited about this collaboration, which forms a key pillar of our process development, manufacturing and supply strategy”.
Kat Jenkins
