Catalent has signed an agreement with Bone Therapeutics to acquire its cell therapy manufacturing subsidiary, Skeletal Cell Therapy Support SA (SCTS), including all of its assets located in Gosselies, Belgium.

Catalent will purchase the shares of SCTS, currently held by Bone Therapeutics, which owns and operates a purpose-built CGxP facility of approximately 41,000 square-foot, including its related quality control and product development labs, warehouse, grade C and B cleanrooms and equipment as well as land for further development. Catalent will undertake the manufacturing of clinical material for Bone Therapeutics’ drug, ALLOB, an allogeneic osteoblastic cell therapy product, derived from ex vivo cultured bone marrow cells.

The Bone Therapeutics subsidiary and its facility, which is next to Catalent’s existing cell therapy site, will allow Catalent to expand its cell therapy capabilities and advanced clinical and commercial supply, and create an integrated European center of excellence in cell therapy. Catalent is continuing work on its dedicated 60,000 square-foot commercial-scale production and fill-finish facility in Gosselies, which is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2021.

As part of the acquisition, all of the manufacturing employees located in Gosselies and employed by SCTS will remain with SCTS and become part of the Catalent workforce. The transaction is expected to close in November 2020.

“Catalent is committed to supporting the development and manufacture of next-generation therapies and bringing life-changing treatments to patients in need,” commented Manja Boerman, Ph.D., President, Catalent Cell & Gene Therapy. “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.”