CDMO Rentschler Biopharma is signalling its intent to cut down cell and gene therapy operations by shutting down its UK manufacturing facility in Stevenage.
The Laupheim, Germany-headquartered company said the move is based on evolving market conditions and client needs, citing the need to prioritise sustainable growth. Rentschler will instead put more resources into biologics.
Rentschler’s Stevenage cell and gene therapy plant made viral vectors for clinical and commercial supply. The site is part of a cell and gene therapy cluster called The Catapult Network built in 2014, and later expanded in 2020. The campus includes a 7,700-metre squared manufacturing facility, a 100-metre squared analytical technologies laboratory, and skills and training laboratories. Rentschler Biopharma stated its UK facility at Stevenage was launched in 2021.
Rentschler also has rented space in the nearby Sycamore House, an office and laboratory space built in May 2023. As of June 2023, Rentschler was a tenant alongside GSK, Achilles Therapeutics, and Immunome, amongst others.
Rentschler employs around 1,400 people across the plants in Massachusetts in the US and Laupheim in Germany, as well as the Stevenage facility.
A Rentschler spokesperson told Pharmaceutical Technology: "While no final decisions have been made, subject to a collective consultation process, the majority of the approximately 30 employees at our UK site will be affected as part of the closure of business operations.
The current proposal is that some employees will stay on longer to support the process of closure of business."
Rentschler’s CEO Benedikt von Braunmühl said: “The cell and gene therapy market has experienced slower-than-expected growth, with demand across the industry not meeting our expectations.”
Von Braunmühl added that the company has determined biologics to be an area where it sees greater demand and value growth.
Speaking about those working at the plant, he said, “We are committed to supporting the affected employees by providing resources and assistance during this transition period.”
Unlike the Stevenage plant, Rentschler’s other two sites have benefitted from significant investment over the past year. In October 2024, the company announced plans to upgrade and expand the Laupheim facility. Construction is slated to begin by spring this year and the expansion is expected to be fully operational by 2028. Three months before the Laupheim plans were revealed, the CDMO announced the Massachusetts facility had become fully operational.
Rentschler is not the only company in the pharmaceutical sector that is scaling down operations in the cell and gene therapy sector. In 2022, GSK terminated its T-cell receptor therapy collaboration with Lyell Immunopharma in late 2022. Once a booming field for investment, cell and gene therapies have become tricky to develop, with companies facing manufacturing challenges and scalability hurdles.
Editor's note: This article was updated on 3 February to include comment from a company spokesperson.
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