American life sciences specialist Cytiva collaborated with Thailand’s Genepeutic Bio to establish the first Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certified cell therapy manufacturing facility in Thailand. The 600-square meter facility is located at Innovation Cluster II, Thailand Science Park, Pathum Thani province, Thailand.
Genepeutic Bio aims to bring chimeric antigen receptor-T (CAR T) cell therapies to a few hundred patients with relapsed and refractory blood cancers, such as acute lymphoid leukemia, in Thailand and Southeast Asia by 2025. The company has also applied for Thai Food and Drug Administration approval for this treatment and hopes to receive approval by the end of 2024.
The research and development of cell and gene therapies, such as CAR T cell therapies, is gaining visibility in Thailand. In late April 2023, the Thailand Center of Excellence for Life Sciences (TCELS), the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research, and Innovation, the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI), the Board of Trade of Thailand, and the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion (OSMEP) announced a combined effort to elevate the life science industry as one of the country’s top growth pillars and propel Thailand to become a high-value medical and health hub.
Data from Cytiva’s 2023 Global Biopharma Resilience Index shows that having better access to biopharma talent will facilitate progress in Thailand. A third of respondents in Thailand, compared to the average of 59 percent of respondents globally, result positive about having access to GMP-capable talent.
Cytiva’s FlexFactory biomanufacturing platform includes cell therapy instrumentation, qualification and documentation packages, project management consulting and training services, and the Chronicle automation software platform. It provides an integrated, scalable solution for acceleration and translation to GMP manufacturing and takes approximately nine months to install and validate.
(Source: Cytiva)
