Novo Nordisk Foundation to Establish New Cell Therapy Manufacturing Facility in Denmark

On Sept. 21, 2023, the Novo Nordisk Foundation announced that it is investing up to DKK 950 million (€127 million, US$136 million) into a new cell therapy manufacturing facility in Lyngby, Denmark. The facility, which will be known as the Cellerator, will be located on the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) campus and will be used for the final development steps and upscaling of cell therapies for human testing. According to a company press release, the Cellerator will be a limited liability company and will be fully owned and funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation. It will operate as an independent philanthropic initiative.

The facility will serve public, private, national, and international clients from academia, biotech, and the pharmaceutical industry. Construction is expected to begin in the summer of 2024, and the facility will be operational in 2027.

The establishment of the new facility is intended to fill a critical gap in the Danish cell therapy market. Having this facility on the DTU campus will help translate breakthroughs in cell therapy research into real-world treatments for diseases such as chronic heart failure, Parkinson’s disease, kidney disease, type 1 diabetes, and several forms of cancer, according to the press release. The Cellerator will further develop cell therapies that have already been tested successfully in animals and will manufacture these therapies consistently and at-scale for early clinical trials.

The facility will support several cell therapy types, including those derived from embryonic stem cells, from induced pluripotent stem cells, and from adult stem cells. The range of services it will provide include process development, good manufacturing practice manufacturing, product release, and regulatory support. In addition, the facility will have built-in flexibility to respond to changing demands for therapy types and services.

“We’ve seen major advances in the laboratory in recent years, but many promising cell therapy candidates face difficulties reaching clinical trials, partly because we can’t currently develop cell therapy products in large, consistent quantities here in Denmark. I’m thrilled to be heading an initiative that will change this and provide hope to people living with chronic diseases,” said Thomas H.R. Carlsen, CEO of the Novo Nordisk Foundation Cellerator, in the press release.

“The location of the Novo Nordisk Foundation Cellerator at DTU allows for significant synergies with our research, education, and innovation in health tech and biotechnology, which is happening in close collaboration with start-ups and companies. The Cellerator will provide our researchers and students with a unique opportunity to translate cell technologies into cell therapy treatments,” said Anders Bjarklev, president of DTU, in the release.

Source: Novo Nordisk Foundation