Century Therapeutics, a cell therapy company developing induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived cell therapies for cancer, announced a significant expansion of its operational and laboratory space in Philadelphia, as well as progress on its manufacturing facility in Branchburg, NJ, paving the way for a strong technical foundation as the company scales up its in-house research and development capabilities.
 
The company is expanding its presence in uCity Square, opening 17,000 square feet of mixed office and laboratory space at 3624 Market Street, an additional 5,000 square feet of space at 3711 Market Street and has signed a lease for 25,000 square feet at 3535 Market Street—all within steps of the current headquarters at 3675 Market Street. Century has also committed to 33,000 square feet in the One uCity life sciences development currently under construction in the same burgeoning region of the city.
 
“We are excited to expand our footprint within the heart of Philadelphia – which has emerged as an epicenter of the growing cell and gene therapy field,” said Lalo Flores, chief executive officer, Century Therapeutics. “This new space will not only boost community vitality and fuel the local economy, but it will also enable us to accelerate development of our genetically engineered, universal iPSC-derived immune effector cell products—including iNK and iT cells—and ultimately reach more cancer patients.”
 
Century has also signed a lease to build their own in-house cGMP manufacturing facility in Branchburg, NJ, with the goal of being operational later this year. Construction of the 53,000 square foot space has already begun, with preliminary plans underway for a second phase expansion in support of later clinical stage programs. This capability will supplement existing privileged access to the Fujifilm Cellular Dynamics (FCDI) facilities and power a rapidly growing pipeline of cellular products.
 
“Adding in-house manufacturing capabilities will enable us to generate our pipeline with homogenous products that can be manufactured and scaled in a cost-effective manner,” said Dr. Flores. “It is a critical step in our strategic plan to accelerate product iteration, provide additional optionality and de-risk technical execution.”
 
In addition to the Pennsylvania and New Jersey locations, Century has a laboratory in Hamilton, Ontario specifically focused on targeting glioblastoma, and recently opened a Seattle-based innovation hub to help advance the company’s novel iPSC platform and support the continued pipeline growth and development.
 
Century Therapeutics plans to leverage this expansion to build upon their existing expertise in gene editing, protein engineering and cell manufacturing to become a fully integrated biotech producing optimized cell therapies through highly intentional, selective targeting and thoughtful design. The company’s iPSC-derived CAR-expressing NK cells and T cells are expected to enter clinical trials for a range of hematological and solid cancers in 2022.