San Diego, CA – Invetech, a global leader in instrument development, custom automation and contract manufacturing, and Celyad SA, (CYAD.BR) (“Celyad”), a biopharmaceutical company focused on identification and development of specialized cell-based therapies with product candidates in oncology and cardiology, today announced that they have entered into an agreement under which Invetech will develop and supply manufacturing systems to support production needs for C-Cure®, Celyad’s most advanced product candidate based on the cardiopoiesis technology platform. Under the terms of the agreement, Invetech will provide Celyad with a range of advanced design and manufacturing services to support development of customized manufacturing systems for commercial production of C-Cure®.
“Our feasibility study for automated manufacturing of C-Cure® delivered excellent results and provided strong support for the continued development of this promising automation platform. Importantly, this program also builds on and expands our expertise in core cell therapy development,” said Dieter Hauwaerts, Vice President, Operations, Celyad.
In this collaboration, the system design and production teams at Invetech will supply Celyad with a modular, readily scalable and highly automated production suite able to facilitate simultaneous processing of multiple patient-specific therapies. The manufacturing system is designed to be rapidly expandable to accommodate anticipated increases in production volume to support future global commercialization pending regulatory approvals.
“We are pleased to be supporting Celyad in the translation of their exciting C-Cure® product from clinical trials to commercial production. Our experience with automating manual processes has enabled us to design a GMP compliant manufacturing system that meets Celyad’s need for efficient manufacturing combined with patient safety,” said Richard Grant, Global Vice President, Cell Therapy, at Invetech. “This agreement reflects Invetech’s ability to adapt biopharmaceutical process design methodologies to address the unique demands and challenges presented by the cell therapy industry.”