New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and leaders from The Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center came together on Monday to celebrate the opening of the newly expanded Roswell Park Good Manufacturing Engineering and Cell Manufacturing Facility (GMP). This significant undertaking expands Roswell Park’s GMP facility to 11,000 square feet, including 20 clean rooms across two buildings and an entire floor within the Roswell Park Cancer Cell Center. Now the largest academic GMP facility in the state of New York, this milestone marks a transformative step for cancer research and treatment.
The expansion provides cutting-edge cell therapy equipment, manufacturing capabilities and comprehensive quality control, providing a complete spectrum of resources spanning pre-clinical research, clinical manufacturing, clinical trials and implementation. Top specialists in all aspects of cell and gene therapy will lead the work in and around this innovation hub — including Roswell Park team members who helped develop three of the six CAR T-cell therapies now approved by the FDA for treatment of cancer.
“This state-of-the-art facility gives Roswell Park the unique ability to manufacture customized therapies using patients’ own cells right here on site,” said Candace S. Johnson, PhD, President and CEO of the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. “Not only will this give our own world-class physicians and scientists the tools and resources needed to advance cancer care, but it also allows us to partner with research organizations and pharmaceutical companies to foster new products and developments.”
The design of the multi-purpose facility will help grow groundbreaking CAR T-cell therapies and also support smaller biotech companies, helping advance therapies that may otherwise be stalled by funding or production constraints. This will ensure the most promising treatments can reach cancer patients faster.
“Our experts are committed to guiding these groundbreaking developments through every stage of the process, ensuring quality, efficiency, and compliance, while focusing on the ultimate goal – patient care and treatment,” said Yeong “Christopher” Choi, PhD, MBA, Technical Director of the Roswell Park’s GMP Facility. “The meticulously planned infrastructure is designed to expedite access to the most promising immunotherapy treatments and is poised to become the largest academic GMP facility in New York State, with insights from the globally acclaimed cell therapy experts at Roswell Park.”
Roswell Park’s Renier Brentjens, MD, PhD, is one of the pioneers of CAR T-cell therapy and has built a team of leading scientists, engineers and oncologists dedicated to advancing these treatments, improving their safety and efficacy and making them more widely available. Five CAR T clinical trials are slated to begin in 2025, utilizing the facility expansion to create these customized treatments.
“These therapies hold remarkable potential to save lives,” said Brentjens, Deputy Director and Chair of Medicine for the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. “The GMP Facility allows us to truly blaze the trail to take these from bench to bedside and get them to the patients who need them as quickly as possible.”
To learn more about the unique resources available at the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center in Upstate New York, as well as the new technology within the Roswell Park GMP Engineering & Cell Manufacturing Facility (GEM), visit roswellpark.org/gmp.
From the world’s first chemotherapy research to the PSA prostate cancer biomarker, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center generates innovations that shape how cancer is detected, treated and prevented worldwide. Driven to eliminate cancer’s grip on humanity, the Roswell Park team of 4,000 makes compassionate, patient-centered cancer care and services accessible across New York State and beyond. Founded in 1898, Roswell Park was among the first three cancer centers nationwide to become a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center and is the only one to hold this designation in Upstate New York. To learn more about Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Roswell Park Care Network, visit www.roswellpark.org, call 1-800-ROSWELL (1-800-767-9355) or email ASKRoswell@RoswellPark.org.
Media Contact
Annie Deck-Miller, Director of Public Relations
716-845-8593; annie.deck-miller@roswellpark.org
