Catalent, the Somerset-based provider of drug delivery technologies and solutions, has agreed to acquire a German developer and manufacturer of stem cells.
The company said in a news release that the deal for RheinCell Therapeutics GmbH will build on its existing custom cell therapy development and manufacturing capabilities. The German company’s employees will join Catalent’s Cell & Gene Therapy business.
“By offering a renewable, and standardized, source of cells for further product development, (GMP-grade human induced pluripotent stem cells) have the potential to be a disruptive technology that could fuel the development of the next generation of cell therapies and substantially enhance the ability to manufacture at scale,” Julien Meissonnier, Catalent vice president and chief scientific officer, said in a prepared statement. “Catalent is committed to building a full-scale value chain for emerging modalities and accelerating their path to market through expertise and innovation. This acquisition further strengthens Catalent’s position in these new therapeutic areas, by pioneering tools and techniques to substantially advance scale-up to meet the demands of clinical and commercial manufacturing.”
The transaction is expected to close by year-end, pending customary approvals and conditions. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“This latest acquisition fuels the extraordinary growth of Catalent Cell & Gene Therapy, and the expertise and deep knowledge in iPSC cell lines that RheinCell brings will immediately boost our cell therapy portfolio, allowing us to offer iPSC banks to our customers as a premium source for their therapeutic development pathway,” Manja Boerman, president of Catalent Cell & Gene Therapy, said in a statement. “The addition of the RheinCell team to our growing cell therapy network will create an opportunity to share cutting-edge expertise across our global centers of excellence.”