TiGenix Sells Dutch Manufacturing Plant To PharmaCell
TiGenix NV, which is a leader in Europe’s cell therapy sector, has announced that it has come to terms with PharmaCell BV in regards to the sale of its Dutch based manufacturing plant. The sale cost PharmaCell a total of 5.75 million Euros. PharmaCell, which is a European contract manufacturing organization (CMO) that focuses primarily on cell therapy and regenerative medicines, will be receiving shares of TiGenix’s subsidiary, TiGenix BV, as it is TiGenix BV that holds the manufacturing plant.
The plant is located in Sittard Geleen, which is found in the Netherlands. The plant was assessed by Dutch regulators in 2012, and it passed a cGMP inspection. The facility also received approval from the European Medicines Agency to begin producing ChondroCelect, which is a cell therapy product for knee cartilage repair designed and produced by TiGenix.
Under the terms of the deal, TiGenix will receive 3.5 million Euros immediately, with the last payment of 0.75 million Euros being issued in 2017. Because of a long term manufacturing agreement, TiGenix’s ChondroCelect will continue to be produced at the plant.
Eduardo Bravo, the CEO of TiGenix, commented on the facility’s sale. “The sale of the Dutch manufacturing facility together with the agreement to license the marketing and distribution rights of ChondroCelect to Sobi, which was signed in April, have transformed TiGenix,” he said. “The combination of these two deals brings an immediate cash inflow of Euro 3.5 million to TiGenix, and a reduction in annual operating costs for manufacturing, sales and marketing of at least Euro 5 million. The broader geographical reach for ChondroCelect offered by Sobi will give TiGenix the potential for greater value generation in the long-term. TiGenix itself can now fully focus on progressing its promising advanced clinical stage pipeline to patients with high unmet medical need.”
PharmaCell has also stated that the company intends to use the facility for further development of investigational cell therapy and regenerative medicine products.