Cambrex has initiated a project aimed at constructing a new facility to accommodate four current Good Manufacturing Practice-compliant suites dedicated to cell therapy manufacturing. The company said the expansion would increase its manufacturing capacity by 100 per cent.
The facility and the first two suites are due to be completed and validated by December 2003. Cambrex recently signed a manufacturing agreement with Ortec International for OrCel, an engineered tissue product in clinical trials for the treatment of venous ulcers, which earmarked all its existing production capacity.
Cell therapy is the prevention or treatment of human disease by the administration of cells that have been selected, multiplied and pharmacologically altered outside the body. Cambrex estimates that the current market for contract cell therapy services is approximately $20 million and will grow 10-fold by 2006.