Thermo Fisher strikes on campus with new cell manufacturing website in San Francisco – Endpoints Information
Thermo Fisher Scientific continues to establish roots in the Bay Area.
The manufacturer opened the doors to a new cell therapy manufacturing facility adjacent to the University of California-San Francisco Medical Center’s Mission Bay campus and on the university campus.
Exterior view of Thermo Fisher’s new manufacturing facility
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UCSF and Thermo Fisher have partnered since 2021, with the new site focused on manufacturing cell therapeutics for certain cancers, including glioblastoma and multiple myeloma. The new site plans to leverage Thermo Fisher’s manufacturing services expertise to help UCSF accelerate the development of cell therapies and eventually bring them to the clinic, said Dan Herring, general manager of cell therapy services Thermo Fisher, in an interview with Endpoints News.
And herring
“CAR-T cell therapies are advancing at an increasingly early stage. They’re late-stage right now, but we want to be part of the team that pushes them to be more productive in the earlier treatment options,” Herring said.
The facility is 44,000 square feet and includes six production suites that are now operational. According to Herring, the building is a former plumbing parts warehouse and manufacturing facility that was acquired by UCSF. It was converted into a cell therapy manufacturing facility by Thermo Fisher.
There is also space to build six more suites, Herring said, adding that the site will be able to manufacture autologous and allogeneic cell therapies and will have analytical development, standard manufacturing processes and technology transfer capability. He did not confirm the headcount or the cost of the facility to Endpoints.
Herring is optimistic that Thermo Fisher will work even more closely with academic institutions in the future.
“The concept of being close to the patient is really difficult to implement, but also exciting when it succeeds. And I think we’ve achieved that,” he said.
