Promethera Biosciences SA and Shibuya Corporation have formed a collaboration to establish a high-throughput, commercial-scale and clinical-grade cell therapy and regenerative medicine manufacturing platform. For Promethera, the collaboration will act as a cornerstone to optimize and expand the manufacturing capabilities for its current and future portfolio of liver-derived cell therapies to treat Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH), acute-on-chronic liver-failure (ACLF) and other indications. For Shibuya, the deal represents a step towards bringing the company’s expertise to the European market and becoming a global player in the manufacturing of regenerative medicine products. Both parties will combine their capabilities and expertise to establish a first-in-class manufacturing facility starting at Promethera’s new premises in Gosselies, Belgium. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

“Japan in particular is leading the charge when it comes to making the cell therapy revolution a reality. It is widely accepted that commercial manufacturing in the cell therapy space represents a key hurdle to overcome in this regard. We therefore welcome the opportunity to conquer this challenge together with our partners from Shibuya Corporation,” said, John Tchelingerian, chief executive officer, Promethera Biosciences. “Once successfully established, starting in Europe, the joint production platform will significantly increase our and our partners’ manufacturing capabilities in the cell therapy space reinforcing our claim to offer treatment to potentially thousands of patients from one donated liver.”

Hidetoshi Shibuya, managing director, Shibuya Corporation, and chief executive officer, Shibuya Hoppmann Corporation, said, “Research, clinical studies and market supply in the emerging sector of cell therapy and regenerative medicine require large scale cell cultivation at a reasonable cost while adhering to highest quality and safety standards of various types of stem cells. We are very pleased to team up with Promethera as one of the key innovators and the pioneer in the liver-derived cell therapy arena to establish a joint system that is capable of consistently meeting this demand.”

Shibuya has manufactured and installed a variety of aseptic systems and equipment for hospitals and universities, which includes cell culture isolators, robotic cell culture isolators and 3D bio printers. All systems are suited for very high-level disinfection processes and operate without direct human intervention.