Excellos Inc., a cell therapy CDMO member of Blood Centers of America (BCA), has been selected to manufacture Galapagos’ CAR-T cell therapy candidate, GLPG5101, for its recently FDA cleared ATALANTA-1 clinical study in patients with relapsed/refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma in the U.S.
 
Excellos was selected to provide end-to-end manufacturing of Galapagos’ CAR-T cell therapy on Galapagos’ platform at Excellos’ new purpose-built manufacturing facility in downtown San Diego, CA.
 
Galapagos’ decentralized manufacturing platform aim to address some of the limitations of CAR-T cell therapy production. It has the potential to offer greater speed and scalability, with the delivery of fresh, fit cells with a median vein-to-vein time of seven days and the possibility for greater physician control and improved patient experience.
 
“We are excited to manufacture Galapagos’ CAR-T cell therapy candidate using their decentralized manufacturing platform. This collaboration will enable the efficient production and delivery of fresh, fit CAR-T cell therapies within a median vein-to-vein time of seven days,” said Thomas VanCott, CEO of Excellos. “Our team is proud to have demonstrated our agility in initiating technology transfer, our state-of-the-art facility, and our expertise in executing production and analytics, all of which are critical to advancing this groundbreaking therapy.”
 
This project represents the first site initiation under the recently announced strategic collaboration between Galapagos’ U.S. entity GLPG US, Inc. and BCA. Under this agreement, BCA’s national network of blood centers will provide decentralized manufacturing services for Galapagos’ CAR-T cell therapy product candidates, close to cancer treatment centers across the U.S.