Celonic to Boost Its Cell and Gene Therapy (CGT) Production with a Facility in the Upcoming Life Science Parket Rheintal, located in Stein, Switzerland.
Celonic Group, a leading global CDMO specializing in the development and production of Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMP) and bio-therapeutics, announced a long-term lease agreement for a new production site and office space. The facility will span 91,500 square feet (8,500 sqm) in the WST-222 building at the Novartis-operated Life Science Park Rheintal.
In this recently-announced life science park in Stein AG (Switzerland), Celonic will establish development and GMP production capacities for Cell and Gene Therapies (CGT), next-generation vaccines, and innovative biopharmaceuticals, to support clients from early clinical trials through to commercialization.
Celonic plans a two-phase expansion, adding up to 20 GMP clean room suites and offices along with laboratories for process development, method development and quality control services. Celonic aims to open the facility for GMP production in the second quarter of 2022, enabling client’s access to best-in-class CDMO services from one of the leading state-of-the-art infrastructures in the world. The expansion will also create up to 250 new, highly-skilled positions in Stein.
As stated by Konstantin Matentzoglu, CEO of Celonic AG:
“This expansion to the Life Science Park Rheintal demonstrates our commitment to address the growing demand for cell and gene therapy manufacturing. With its unique location and on-site services, this state-of-the-art facility will further boost Celonic’s expansion into the Cell & Gene space and enable us to offer large-scale ATMP GMP manufacturing from early 2022. We are looking forward to establishing a world-class cell and gene therapy facility in this fast-developing life sciences hub operated by Novartis.”
The development and manufacturing capabilities of Celonic, together with the infrastructure of the Life Science Park Rheintal and the expertise of Europe’s leading region for life sciences and pharma development, will establish the region of Basel and Stein as a hub for the development and commercialization of next-generation ATMPs.
Currently, the Life Science Park is home to more than 2,000 employees from three pharma and biotech companies working in research, development, and production.
About Celonic
Celonic, a global contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) for innovative biopharmaceuticals, including cell and gene therapy products, is part of the private family-owned company, J.RETTENMAIER & Söhne (JRS-Group). It currently has two production sites in Basel, Switzerland (headquarters) and Heidelberg, Germany, respectively. Founded more than 30 years ago, Celonic has evolved from research projects on GMP manufacturing for clinical materials to commercial market supply. With more than 20 years of experience in GMP manufacturing, Celonic acts as an internationally recognized manufacturing partner.