Adaptimmune Therapeutics, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the use of T-cell therapy to treat cancer, unveiled plans to expand its research and development operation into a major new purpose-built facility at Milton Park, Oxfordshire.

Construction of Adaptimmune’s 67,000 square foot Enterprise Zone building is already under way following a groundbreaking ceremony. The flagship facility will provide laboratory space with associated offices, meeting rooms and a café area to accommodate a team of around 200 employees.

The new building is designed to support the company’s continuing growth of its research and development operation and is scheduled for delivery in late 2016.

Adaptimmune has signed a 25-year agreement with break options to lease the building from developer MEPC, which owns Milton Park, one of Europe’s largest business parks and home to over 7,500 employees and 250 organizations.

“We are delighted to be working closely with MEPC on this exciting new building, which will provide best-in-class laboratories to support the expansion of our R&D team and enable continuing progress with our research programs,” said James Noble, chief executive officer, Adaptimmune.

Adaptimmune started as three people at Milton Park in 2008 to research into engineered T-cell receptors to fight cancer, and now has over 150 staff from across the world working out of its UK and U.S. facilities.

Following its foundation in the U.K., Adaptimmune launched its U.S operation in 2011 after a long-standing research collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania. The company has rapidly expanded its clinical programs and is currently running five Phase I/II trials in multiple cancers across the U.S. targeting the NY-ESO-1 cancer antigen in both solid and hematologic cancers with promising early results. Adaptimmune also has an IND open with its second therapeutic candidate, MAGE-A10, and a third candidate in planning for IND submission in 2016.

In May 2015, the company achieved a successful IPO on NASDAQ, generating net proceeds in excess of $176 million, and is advancing a pipeline of therapeutic candidates based on its proprietary T-cell engineering platform.