Catalent Acquires Bone Therapeutics’ Cell Manufacturing Facility

Catalent has signed an agreement with Bone Therapeutics for the acquisition of Skeletal Cell Therapy Support SA (SCTS), which is a subsidiary of Bone Therapeutics. The acquisition, which is expected to close in November 2020, was announced in an Oct. 29, 2020 press release.

Under the terms of the agreement, Catalent will acquire the subsidiary company, and all of its assets located in Gosselies, Belgium, through the purchase of all SCTS shares that are currently owned by Bone Therapeutics. The deal will include a purpose-built current good practice (CGxP) facility of approximately 41,000 ft2, which incorporates quality control and product development laboratories, warehouse, grade C and B cleanrooms and equipment, and land for further development. Additionally, Catalent will take on the manufacturing of clinical material for Bone Therapeutics’ ALLOB—an allogenic osteoblastic cell therapy product derived from ex-vivo cultured bone marrow cells.

The acquired facility is located next to Catalent’s existing cell therapy site, which will enable Catalent to expand its cell therapy capabilities and advanced clinical and commercial supply, as well as create an integrated European center of excellence in cell therapy. All the SCTS manufacturing employees will remain with the company and become part of the Catalent workforce.

“Catalent is committed to supporting the development and manufacture of next-generation therapies and bringing life-changing treatments to patients in need,” said Manja Boerman, president, Catalent Cell & Gene Therapy, in the press release. “Following the acquisition of MaSTherCell, the additional manufacturing capacity and technical expertise that this deal with Bone Therapeutics gives us will immediately expand our functional clinical and commercial capacity for current late-stage customers. This addition also creates a strong center of cell therapy excellence for Catalent in Europe and will serve as a hub for the growing cell therapy pipeline.”

“This agreement with Catalent is an important strategic step for Bone Therapeutics and is the result of our continuous effort to optimize our operations,” added Miguel Forte, CEO, Bone Therapeutics, in the press release. “The integration of our manufacturing subsidiary into Catalent, one of the premier contract manufacturers in the cell therapy space, significantly increases our operational flexibility. It enables Bone Therapeutics to maximize the efficient use of our manufacturing assets by combining the manufacturing facility and specialist operators with Catalent’s global network of clinical and commercial manufacturing facilities. This will ensure the most efficient ongoing global production of ALLOB.”

Source: Catalent​