Health Minister Greg Hunt announces funding for Kymriah today at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute
Cell Therapies Pty Ltd (CTPL), a recognised leader in the development, manufacturing and distribution of cell-based therapies, today announces it has signed an agreement with Novartis to produce their CAR T cell therapy product Kymriah® (tisagenlecleucel) in Melbourne. The agreement will enable the first Australian on-shore commercial manufacture and supply of this therapy. Currently, Australians who receive this immunotherapy have their blood collected and sent overseas to undergo a manufacturing process, before their reprogramed cells are flown back to be reinfused.
“Being able to complete this whole process within Australia is a real game changer for Australian patients,” says Associate Professor Dominic Wall, who is the Executive Director at Peter Mac responsible for cellular immunotherapy.
“On-shore manufacture removes a major bottle-neck of international transport while patients benefit from substantially less time needed from blood collection to reinfusion. CAR T-cell treatments like Kymriah® can be life-changing for patients who have exhausted all other options and I, along with all of our clinicians at Peter Mac, could not be more delighted by today’s developments.”
In August 2019, CTPL achieved a broad GMP manufacturing licence for T-cell products from the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). The license covers the collection, manufacturing, testing, storage and release for supply of any commercial T-cell product, including all CAR-T cell therapies, as well as any T-cell product for use in clinical trials. CTPL is the first Australian entity to receive such a license. “Having this license in place significantly de-risks the development process for our clients, as they are assured from the early stages that their product is already manufactured in a way that is compliant with current commercial regulations in Australia,” says Dawn Driscoll, CEO of CTPL.
“The combination of CTPL’s broad TGA license, the national infrastructure provided by the Centre of Excellence in Cellular Immunotherapies housed at Peter Mac, and the agreement with Novartis, means that CTPL’s overall capabilities are at a world-class, pharmaceutical level, and patients will benefit for years to come.”
About Cell Therapies Pty Ltd (CTPL)
CTPL is a leading provider of cGMP contract manufacturing and deployment services for cell and gene therapy products in the Asia Pacific. CTPL is dedicated to enabling patient access to, and furthering the development of, these ground-breaking therapies on behalf of clients from around the world. Building on more than 15 years’ experience and strategic partnerships with our owner, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne Australia, we provide a complete process development and GMP product supply service from translational studies through to commercial supply and can serve as a single access point for regional deployment of cellular therapies for our clients. We have TGA licences that allow us to safely manufacture and supply these CAR-T therapies to patients in Australia.
Contact information:
Cell Therapies Pty Ltd
Level 9, 305 Grattan Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
Australia
Phone: +61 3 8559 7310
Email: BizDev@celltherapies.com.au
