Contract Services

Novartis partners with CELLforCURE for CAR-T-cell therapy manufacturing

Novartis has signed an agreement with CELLforCURE, a contract development and manufacturing organization and part of the biopharmaceutical company, LFB, to produce chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapies at CELLforCURE’s bioproduction site in Les Ulis, France. The company says that production could start in 2019 following the transfer of Novartis’ manufacturing technology to CELLforCURE.

CELLforCURE is a company specializing in T cell and gene therapies, and it has an industrial platform located in Les Ulis, France for producing cell- and gene therapies. Established as a pharmaceutical company in 2013, CELLforCURE, operates a contract development and manufacturing organization. The company obtained two GMP certificates from the French health authority, Agence Nationale de Sécurité du Médicament et des Produits de Santé, in 2016 for producing experimental and commercial therapy drugs.

Novartis says the decision to manufacture CAR-T therapies in commercial and clinical phases in France is part of its global supply strategy. Between 2015–2019, Novartis invested over EUR 900 million ($1.05 billion) on the expansion of its center in Huningue, France, the construction of a new head office building in Rueil-Malmaison, France, as well as research and development projects.

CELLforCURE will be responsible for producing CAR-T therapies, which are considered a type of personalized medicine. The manufacturing process used by CELLforCURE in France will be the same technology and process developed by Novartis at its site in Morris Plains, New Jersey.