Autolus and CGT Catapult are collaborating to achieve approval for commercial manufacture of CAR-T cell therapies from the CGT Catapult manufacturing centre.The collaboration will enable the UK company to expand further and contribute to the global competitiveness of the UK cell and gene therapy industry.
Autolus Therapeutics are further expanding their operations at the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult (CGT Catapult) manufacturing centre, and are collaborating with CGT Catapult to achieve licensure for the commercial manufacture of their CAR-T cell therapies. This collaboration facilitates the company’s plans to manufacture CAR-T cell therapies for both clinical and commercial supply and the CGT Catapult and associated UK supply chain will gain new capability and expertise, adding to the favourable cell and gene therapy ecosystem in the UK.
Autolus are a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation programmed T cell therapies for the treatment of cancer. They are one of five collaborators to have established their large-scale manufacturing operations at the CGT Catapult manufacturing centre in Stevenage, UK.
The facility, which has recently doubled in capacity, provides infrastructure, expertise and a surrounding cell and gene therapy ecosystem which is favourable for the growth of companies moving towards clinical adoption. Autolus are expanding within the facility to utilise additional cleanroom space in the newly operational modules, supporting the manufacture of materials for their pipeline products.
Matthew Durdy, CEO, Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult commented:
We are proud to undertake this collaboration with Autolus, a pioneering company that has been showing tremendous progress with their pipeline products for oncology. We look forward to working with Autolus to meet all of the standards required for commercial CAR-T cell therapy manufacturing.
With its unique operating model, the Manufacturing Centre is well suited as an international base for manufacturing innovation at scale and, having recently expanded, has the capacity to support new and existing collaborating companies as they grow.
The CGT Catapult manufacturing centre has been backed by over £75m of funding, including investment from the UK government’s Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy, Innovate UK and from the European Regional Development Fund. As part of this funding, £3.36m from the European Regional Development Fund and £12m from the Medicines Manufacturing Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund were invested to support the expansion phase of construction at the CGT Catapult manufacturing centre.