TxCell, a biotech working on T cell treatments for chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, has signed on Belgium CMO MaSTherCell to produce drugs for the French company's ASTrIA line.
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| Miguel Forte, TxCell chief operating officer |
The two have been working together since July last year when MaSTherCell began manufacturing TxCell's lead product Ovasave, which is designed to treat refractory Crohn's disease patients.
The new agreement is for 5 years and makes MaSTherCell the exclusive manufacturer in Europe for the TxCell line. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed. With this agreement, the transfer of manufacturing will be extended to Col-Treg, TxCell's second lead product, Contract Pharma reported.
"This means we are able to commit to an ambitious product development schedule from our two discovery platforms," Miguel Forte, TxCell's COO, said in a statement. "As a result, it is critical for TxCell to have the security of a strategic relationship with MaSTherCell as a long-term manufacturing partner that will be able to deliver TxCell's therapy products throughout their clinical development."
Regulatory concerns forced TxCell to temporarily halt production at its pilot facility in Besançon, France last June. At the time, the company said although no contamination had been found in products made at the facility, it shut down the plant to make improvements to eliminate the possibility of contamination.
Prior to the temporary shutdown of production, TxCell had already announced plans to move production to a commercial-scale manufacturing facility by 2018.
- read the Contract Pharma story