Galapagos Teams with Blood Centers of America to Decentralize CAR-T Production

Belgian biotechnology company Galapagos revealed on Wednesday its collaboration with Blood Centers of America (BCA) to advance the decentralized production of CAR-T cell therapies in the United States. This partnership, although not detailing the financial terms, will grant Galapagos access to over 50 community blood centers across 43 states, facilitating the local manufacture of its CAR-T cancer treatments near treatment facilities.

This agreement empowers Galapagos to roll out its decentralized CAR-T manufacturing model in the U.S., aiming to deliver "fresh, fit cells with a vein-to-vein time of seven days," as per the announcement. CEO Paul Stoffels described the agreement as a "major milestone," pivotal for Galapagos' expansion in the U.S. The new centers will support pivotal studies and could potentially be utilized for commercial purposes.

The partnership intends to scale up the decentralized manufacturing of CAR-T therapies by leveraging BCA's extensive network. This network, with its robust infrastructure, will aid in harmonizing operations across the United States. Galapagos aims to address several "limitations" of currently available CAR-T treatments, enhancing both physician control and patient experience.

BCA’s apheresis capabilities will be utilized by Galapagos as required. The network of blood centers will also facilitate site initiations and onboarding, accelerating Galapagos' efforts to decentralize its CAR-T therapies while maintaining quality standards.

Galapagos is currently advancing three clinical CAR-T programs. The leading candidate, GLPG5101, is a CD19-directed therapy in Phase II for relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Another CD19 program, GLPG5201, is in Phase I for relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia and Richter transformation. The third candidate, GLPG5301, targets BCMA and is in Phase I for relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.

This partnership with BCA follows Galapagos' January 2024 agreement with Thermo Fisher Scientific for manufacturing and logistics support in the San Francisco area for its hemato-oncology programs. Additionally, in November 2023, Galapagos formed a similar agreement with Landmark Bio, designating the latter as its strategic point-of-care manufacturing partner in Boston.

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