Thermo Fisher opens cell therapy facility at UCSF

Thermo Fisher Scientific will accelerate advanced cell therapies for difficult to treat conditions, including cancer, rare diseases, and other illnesses, from a newly opened cGMP manufacturing facility adjacent to UCSF Medical Center’s Mission Bay campus. The partnership between Thermo Fisher and UCSF, first announced in 2021, has the potential to demonstrate that having scientists, clinicians, and patients closer to a manufacturing site may expedite the development of breakthrough treatments, the company said. UCSF’s initial focus at the facility will be on treatments for glioblastoma, multiple myeloma, and other cancers using updated approaches to CAR-T and CRISPR technologies. Therapies for other difficult to treat conditions will follow. "Cell therapies represent a rapidly emerging field of biotechnology with tremendous promise for future therapeutic applications," said Michel Lagarde, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Thermo Fisher. "With a record number of cell therapy approvals granted in the last two years, and CAR-T therapies becoming earlier treatment options, we’re in a golden age of biology, where new technologies and partnerships are evolving and transforming clinical care."