GE Healthcare Life Sciences opens the company’s first cell and gene therapy laboratory in Asia, aiming to enable new developments and commercialization of precision medicine in Asia.

According to the company, the center, aligned to GE Healthcare’s Fast Trak China offering, marks a milestone in GE Healthcare Life Sciences’ effort to accelerate precision health through technology and services such as process development for commercial-scale cell and gene therapy manufacturing.

GE’s Fast Trak Service Centers are designed to help biopharmaceutical and cell and gene therapy manufacturers increase their process productivity, reduce cost and enable them to bring their product to market faster. The centers are equipped with the latest technologies for bioprocessing in an environment and at a scale that closely replicates the real-life industrial setting. For over 30 years, thousands of customers world-wide have been trained by GE’s experienced Fast Trak leadership teams, giving customers access to industry expertise encompassing process and analytical development, process scale-up, cell and gene therapy expertise, as well as manufacture of drug substances for use in toxicology studies or Phase I and II clinical testing. GE Healthcare has Fast Trak Centers in South Korea, the USA, Sweden, India, and China and satellite Fast Trak Centers in Turkey, Japan and Singapore. Worldwide, more than 500 customers attend standard Fast Trak courses every year, with training available in local languages. In addition, there are customized courses that are built upon request and tailored according to customer needs.

1800 square-meters

The 1800 square-meter facility has been designed according to BSL2 classification, which includes dedicated spaces for cell and gene therapy development. It will offer an automated and digitalized ecosystem as well as technologies, training, and process development services to assist biotech and biopharma companies in their research and manufacturing. The center aims to ultimately support biopharmaceutical companies and scientific organizations in making strides toward shortening commercialization cycles.

Partnership with Gracell Bio

During the event, GE Healthcare Life Sciences also announced a strategic partnership with Gracell Bio, an emerging Chinese company specializing in cell and gene therapy development and service platforms. Through this collaboration, GE Healthcare will provide Gracell Bio with process development services, via the new center, aimed to support the development of a closed, automated, and effective manufacturing process for CAR T cell therapy and other new cell and gene therapy products.

Guests at a ceremony on July 18th celebrated the opening of the Cell and Gene Therapy Asia Technology Center at the GE China Technology Center in Zhangjiang, Pudong, Shanghai. Photo: GE Healthcare