Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Lonza have entered a strategic partnership to establish a facility at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, US, to manufacture Vertex’s cell therapies for type 1 diabetes (T1D).
The companies will collaborate in the development and scale-up of the production of the cell therapy portfolio, and jointly fund the construction of the facility.
The 130,000ft² site will be run by Lonza and will create 300 new jobs. Construction will commence later this year.
The companies will produce the investigational stem cell-derived, fully differentiated insulin-producing islet cell therapy portfolio of Vertex for T1D patients.
The key focus will be on Vertex’s VX-880 and VX-264 programmes, which are currently in the clinical trial stage. VX-880 has shown clinical proof-of-concept while VX-264 is being analysed in a Phase I/II trial.
A Vertex hypoimmune programme is also in the preclinical development stage.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals CEO and president Reshma Kewalramani stated: “Vertex’s allogeneic, fully differentiated, insulin-producing islet cells, and the results from the Phase I/II VX-880 programme, represent a scientific breakthrough that offers the potential to transform the treatment of T1D.
“Establishing this strategic partnership with Lonza, a world-class manufacturing organisation, is a critical milestone in this journey and underscores our long-term commitment to patients with T1D.”
Last month, the company received US Food and Drug Administration approval for Kalydeco (ivacaftor) to treat children aged between one and four months with cystic fibrosis.
Cell & Gene Therapy coverage on Pharmaceutical Technology is supported by Cytiva.
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