On Nov. 1, 2018, City of Hope, and its affiliate, Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), announced a letter of intent to develop a state-of-the-art cell therapy manufacturing facility in the Phoenix Area, a move that would improve the speed at which stem cell research and cancer treatment is delivered.

The Phoenix facility would model City of Hope’s three Current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) facilities in Duarte, California, which have produced well over 1,300 cell and gene therapy products and oncology drugs for many cancer clinical trials across the nation. City of Hope is one of a small number of select cancer centers in the U.S. to provide both biological and chemical GMP manufacturing at a single institution. Its facilities have the ability to produce both gene therapy viruses and cells needed for CAR T therapies.

Demand for clinical cell therapies is expected to grow 42 percent annually over the next decade, according to “Cell Therapy Manufacturing Market.” Most cell therapy manufacturing facilities are at capacity or over capacity because demand is outpacing production rates.

The planned facility would meet an urgent need of accelerating cures for patients in Arizona, Southern California and elsewhere. The facility would also provide additional opportunities to partner and collaborate with scientists in Arizona, an important objective for TGen, an affiliate of City of Hope.

At this future facility, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells, which have demonstrated durable cancer remission in blood cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma, would be among the cells that are produced. The new facility could also support the cell therapy production needs of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies who need this kind of specialized GMP capability to move clinical trial programs forward.