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Global cell therapy CDMO and testing partner Minaris Advanced Therapies launched yesterday with Philadelphia Naval Shipyard as its headquarters. The new company was formed through strategic acquisitions made by New York–based investment firm Altaris which combine Minaris Regenerative Medicine and the U.S. and U.K. operations of WuXi Advanced Therapies, which has been located at the site in Philadelphia since 2016, as documented in Site Selection.
The new company is headquartered on property formerly occupied by WuXi Advanced Therapies. The Philadelphia Business Journal’s John George reports that Philly’s standing as a hub for cell and gene therapy drove the HQ decision. WuXi AppTec announced the decision to sell to Altaris in December, driven by the introduction of the BioSecure Act, federal legislation that would “prevent U.S. pharmaceutical and biotech companies that receive federal funding from working with five Chinese services firms, including WuXi AppTec, because of concerns about national security,” George reported. Meanwhile, WuxiAppTec API manufacturing sites in Changzhou and Taixing successfully passed FDA inspections in March, and the company has established a web page of information about its operations and position vis-à-vis the proposed U.S. legislation.
Site Selection in 2018 reported on WuXi AppTec’s global expansion pattern. Among the company’s largest investments has been a $392 million, 2.8 million-sq.-ft. facility from WuXi Biologics in Dundalk, Ireland, which qualified for the Conway Projects Database in 2019. The company broke ground on a new 50-acre site in Singapore (above) last May.
Overall the newly formed Minaris Advanced Therapies now employs 1,400 people across facilities that encompass 42 clean rooms for commercial use in Philadelphia (800 employees); Allendale, New Jersey; Munich, Germany; and Yokohama, Japan.
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