Joint Venture With CTI to Expand Cell and Gene Therapy Production
Post Date: December 2, 2021 | Publish Date:
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and the research service provider CTI Clinical Trial & Consulting Services have agreed to form a company that will focus on providing cell and gene therapy manufacturing services to the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries.
The joint venture will enable Cincinnati Children’s to expand on the work of its existing Translational Core Laboratory, which engages in manufacturing and testing services for cell and gene therapy clinical trials, said Hector Wong, MD, vice chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the medical center.
“The joint venture will ensure that Cincinnati Children’s faculty and researchers have access to a state-of-the-art, multimodal cell and gene therapy manufacturing laboratory, which is expected to help retain and draw the best talent in the world to the medical center,” Wong said.
The approximately $100 million investment in the joint venture will include a new clinical laboratory, which is expected to encompass 40,000 square feet and house three dozen sterile clean rooms. The facility will have the potential to support the research of more than 30 clinical trial sponsors at a time.
“The new facility will enhance Cincinnati Children’s ability to participate in early phase cell and gene therapy research and clinical trials, leading to improved treatments and, hopefully, cures,” Wong said.
“This joint venture is going to improve our ability to create these vectors and cell-based therapies here in Cincinnati,” Wong added. “So, local patients can benefit from that. And, obviously, patients from around the country and the world can also.”
The specific location for the new lab has yet to be determined, but the facility will be in the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky region. The opening date is expected to be 2023.
About 150 jobs are to be created by the joint venture, and the new company will build on the region’s growing status as a research hub.
Read the full news release about the joint venture
