The transfer to Pencoed Technology Park, Wales from the company’s current headquarters in Surrey, England will see the company take full control of the manufacture of its cell-based therapies.
The change would reduce risk and save costs “through manufacturing efficiencies and downstream economies of scale,” said CEO Michael Hunt. The company said it will create 70 extra jobs over the next two years as cell manufacturing starts onsite.
ReNeuron paid for converting and fitting out the building with a £33m ($55m) fund it raised last year, of which £7.8m ($13m) was granted by the Welsh government and the Welsh Life Sciences Fund.
The company plans to obtain a license for GMP cell manufacture from 2016 to supply ReNeuron’s late-stage clinical trials and commercial product requirements.
The move will bring together the company’s R&D, GMP cell manufacture and corporate activities in one location in April 2015, once conversion of the existing building is completed. The facility, of more than 25,000 sq ft, will include R&D laboratories and GMP clean rooms for automated cell culture.
More to follow shortly.