StemCell Therapy

Engineering and construction specialists Merit has been chosen to deliver the third phase expansion of the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult (CGT Catapult) manufacturing centre in Stevenage, further increasing the capacity of the facility.

The company will use its offsite manufacturing technology and expertise in building controlled environments to deliver seven new quality control laboratories.

Merit completed construction of the expansion phase of the manufacturing centre in October last year using its off-site PAM (pre-assembled module) approach.

For these new laboratories, only 10% of the labour content will be carried out on site. The company will engineer pre-assembled analytical QC laboratory space at its offsite manufacturing centre reducing the build time by 33%, aiming to deliver cost savings to the project while also avoiding disruption to research and manufacturing at the Stevenage facility.

Tony Wells, managing director, Merit, said: We are delighted to have the opportunity to continue to work with the team at CGT Catapult and are proud to have an integral role in the development of such a pioneering off-site initiative. Our proprietary Instant Building technology combines advanced offsite manufacturing with the technical expertise to deliver complex solutions in significantly shorter build schedules. We have a detailed knowledge of the project after successfully completing the expansion phase last year and look forward to working closely with CGT Catapult to once again deliver a high-quality facility.

Backed by over 75 million of funding, including investment from the UK Governments Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund; the department of Business Energy and Industrial Strategy, from Innovate UK, the UKs innovation agency, the European Regional Development Fund and from Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership, the centre is providing the infrastructure and expertise to enable companies to develop their manufacturing capabilities and systems for large scale, commercial cell and gene therapy supply. Companies currently collaborating at the centre are Adaptimmune, Autolus, Freeline Therapeutics and TCRTherapeutics.

Keith Thompson, CEO, Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult, said: It is a pleasure to work with Merit again to expand our laboratory space to provide additional analytical capabilities at the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult manufacturing centre. Merit provided diligent support and ensured minimal disruption during the building of our expansion phase at the centre, and this is crucial to maintaining the facility operational for us and our collaborating companies manufacturing therapies, in an operational GMP compliant state. We look forward to working with Merit again on what is another significant project for CGT Catapult.

See the article here:
Engineering specialist selected to deliver expansion of CGT Catapult - EPM Magazine

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