Chinese biotech to lay down new manufacturing roots in N. Carolina

Shanghai-based CARsgen Therapeutics has announced plans to pump $157 million into its first manufacturing hub in North America. 

The company, which specializes in CAR-T cancer therapies, recently announced that its investments will establish a 37,000-square foot plant for clinical-stage and early manufacturing needs, along with a 100,000-square foot commercial manufacturing facility. All told, the new manufacturing digs are expected to create about 200 jobs.

CARsgen also has a clinical development site in Houston and said the new plants will help the company expand its global cGMP manufacturing capacity while targeting patients in the U.S. The facilities will also support ongoing U.S. clinical trials for two therapies — one of which the company says was the first CAR-Claudin18.2 treatment targeting solid tumors to enter clinical-stage testing. 

The sites in Raleigh-Durham will add to the region’s burgeoning biotech sector, which also includes a planned $2 billion investment from Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies for a cell culture media megaplant.