Center for Breakthrough Medicines latest deal is with London biotech firm Achilles Therapeutics
“The Center for Breakthrough Medicines continued a busy year of deal-making by entering into a partnership with a London biotechnology firm.
Under the agreement, the King of Prussia contract development and manufacturing organization will provide Achilles Therapeutics (NASDAQ: ACHL) with the expanded cell therapy manufacturing it needs to supply products for its ongoing clinical trials.
Financial terms of the deal are being kept confidential.
Achilles is focused on developing precision T-cell therapies to treat solid tumors. Its lead cell therapy candidates are targeting advanced non-small cell lung cancer and metastatic melanoma.
Founded in 2016, Achilles recently established its U.S. headquarters in Philadelphia.
“[The Center for Breakthrough Medicine’s] King of Prussia location was perfect for our needs,” said Edward Samuel, the company’s executive vice president of technical operations. “The expertise of their team, along with their ability to provide on-demand, flexible access to autologous cell therapy manufacturing space was vital in our decision.”
John Lee, who was recently named vice president and head of cell therapy at the Center for Breakthrough Medicines, said the partnership “brings together two powerful, experienced cell therapy organizations for the benefit of cancer patients.”
The Center for Breakthrough Medicines is based within MLP Ventures’ Discovery Labs innovation hub campus. The site was previously home to a GlaxoSmithKline research and development complex.”