Catalent has signed an agreement with Bone Therapeutics to acquire its cell therapy manufacturing subsidiary, Skeletal Cell Therapy Support, including all of its assets located in Gosselies, Belgium. The transaction is expected to close in November 2020.
Under the terms of the agreement, Catalent will purchase the shares of SCTS, currently held by Bone Therapeutics, which owns and operates a CGxP facility of approximately 41,000 sqft, including its related quality control and product development laboratories, warehouse, grade C and B cleanrooms and equipment as well as land for further development. Catalent will undertake the manufacturing of clinical material for Bone Therapeutics’ drug, ALLOB, an allogeneic osteoblastic cell therapy product, derived from ex vivo cultured bone marrow cells.
The facility, which is next to Catalent’s existing cell therapy site, will allow Catalent to expand its cell therapy capabilities and advanced clinical and commercial supply.
As part of the acquisition, all of the manufacturing employees located in Gosselies and employed by SCTS will remain with SCTS and become part of the Catalent workforce, and Bone Therapeutics will continue to focus on its pipeline of products addressing unmet medical needs in the fields of orthopedics and bone diseases.
“Catalent is committed to supporting the development and manufacture of next-generation therapies and bringing life-changing treatments to patients in need,” commented Manja Boerman, PhD., President, Catalent Cell & Gene Therapy. “Following the acquisition of MaSTherCell, the additional manufacturing capacity and technical expertise that this deal with Bone Therapeutics gives us will immediately expand our functional clinical and commercial capacity for current late-stage customers. This addition also creates a strong centre of cell therapy excellence for Catalent in Europe and will serve as a hub for the growing cell therapy pipeline.”
“This agreement with Catalent is an important strategic step for Bone Therapeutics and is the result of our continuous effort to optimise our operations,” said Miguel Forte, CEO, Bone Therapeutics. “The integration of our manufacturing subsidiary into Catalent, one of the premier contract manufacturers in the cell therapy space, significantly increases our operational flexibility. It enables Bone Therapeutics to maximize the efficient use of our manufacturing assets by combining the manufacturing facility and specialist operators with Catalent’s global network of clinical and commercial manufacturing facilities.
”This will ensure the most efficient ongoing global production of ALLOB. It also allows us to further focus on our core activity: developing innovative cell-based treatments for conditions with high unmet medical needs. This deal will facilitate our efforts to bring ALLOB more quickly within the reach of patients around the world.”