Cell and Gene Manufacturing Centre to Open in Belgium

Cell and gene therapy-dedicated CDMO MaSTherCell SA has signed a lease agreement for a 5,700m2 (61,354ft2) site located in Belgium, that will become a manufacturing and production  centre for late-stage and commercially-approved cell and gene therapy products.  The commercial facility is expected to be operational in early 2021.

Significantly expanding the company’s current European manufacturing capacity, MaSTherCell will continue to use its existing site for both industrialisation and early to mid-stage clinical programs. The new facility will include industry 4.0 precepts such as software integration, intelligent equipment and integrated processes with the objective to provide the cell and gene therapy community a lean solution for giving its partners a competitive advantage.

“As a leading CDMO, MaSTherCell has a role to play in solving the current lack of commercial manufacturing capacities in Europe and we believe this facility will be a game changer for market access worldwide,” said Dr. Denis Bedoret, CEO of the Belgium company and President of Masthercell Global. “With this new site, we aim to be the first CDMO in Europe to have a dedicated area for large-scale commercial manufacturing.”

“It was natural for us to set up this state-of-the-art plant in the Gosselies Biopark. Not only will we remain close to our current site and centre of excellence, but also because operating in this world-leading biotechnology cluster will enable us to benefit from a first-class environment in terms of skills, people and know-how. This new production plant will create several hundred jobs and in addition to being able to count on Belgian expertise to train our teams, being in the heart of Europe will undoubtedly be very attractive for our international recruitment,” said Eric Mathieu, Chief of Operations of MaStherCell SA.