Novartis sells France CGT biz to Seqens

Seqens has acquired Novartis’ CGT CDMO CELLforCURE and its manufacturing site located in Les Ulis, about 23km from Paris. 

With this purchase, French contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Seqens aims to strengthen its range of pharmaceutical solutions as a service provider to manage the development of cell and gene therapy (CGT) drugs through to commercialization. 

“The CELLforCURE is focused on development and production of CGT. December 1, 2023, officially marks the complete takeover of CELLforCURE and its CGT development and production site in Les Ulis by Seqens. We are confident that this transaction will enable business continuity at the industrial facilities, preserve its know-how and safeguard as many jobs as possible,” a spokesperson for Novartis told BioProcess Insider.

French CDMO CELLforCURE was established by LBF (Laboratoire français du Fractionnement et des Biotechnologies) in 2013. In 

July 2018

, Novartis selected CELLforCURE as its chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy manufacturing partner after receiving European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommendation for Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel), the first CAR-T cell therapy to receive approval in the US. Furthermore, in 2019 Novartis acquired CELLforCURE to expand its capacity for CAR-T therapies. 

Through this acquisition, Seqens gains a 10,000m² facility, which includes six manufacturing suites and will offer large-scale production services for clinical and commercial purposes. According to the spokesperson, the site has made it possible to treat 580 patients, including one hundred children in four years. 

Novartis said the site is one of the first modular units in Europe to enable large-scale industrial production of CGTs with annual production capacity of several hundred therapeutic batches. 

“The French Ministry of the Economy, Seqens and Novartis teams have worked together to find a favorable outcome for the site. Novartis is committed to ensuring that Seqens has all the necessary requirements to achieve the best possible transition for the employees,” the spokesperson added. 

According to Novartis, this takeover is the result of the firm’s commitment to do everything possible to find the best solution for the site and its employees and has been made possible thanks to the work of social partners, employees and the support of the authorities.   

No financial details of the acquisition have been disclosed.