PharmaCell B.V. a leading Contract Manufacturing Organization for Cellular Therapies and Regenerative Medicine in Europe, announced today that it has entered into an agreement with TiGenix N.V. to purchase its state-of-the-art cell therapy production facility at the Chemelot site in Sittard-Geleen, close to Maastricht (The Netherlands). TiGenix is a leading European cell therapy company with a marketed product for cartilage repair, ChondroCelect®.
TiGenix and PharmaCell have signed an agreement to purchase the shares of TiGenix B.V., which holds the manufacturing site, subject to certain closing conditions and intend to close the transaction in the coming months. PharmaCell will acquire the facility, including its qualified team of employees in Production, QC, QA and other functions. ChondroCelect® will continue to be manufactured at the facility as before under a long-term CMO agreement with PharmaCell.
In 2012, TiGenix’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Sittard-Geleen, the Netherlands, successfully passed cGMP inspection by the Dutch authorities, and obtained approval from the European Medicines Agency for the production of ChondroCelect®, the company’s commercial cell therapy product for cartilage repair in the knee. Going forward, PharmaCell intends to produce other commercial and investigational cell therapy and regenerative medicine products at the site.
Alexander Vos, CEO of PharmaCell B.V. said: “The new partnership with TiGenix is a further step forward to strengthen our business in support of the development of the cell therapy industry in Europe. PharmaCell and TiGenix have created a collaborative business model for cell therapeutics in general and for ChondroCelect® in particular.”