Novartis, Penn reveal CACT plans
The University of Pennsylvania and Novartis AG (SIX:NOVN; NYSE:NVS) unveiled plans on Thursday to build the Center for Advanced Cellular Therapeutics (CACT) to accelerate the discovery, development and manufacturing of personalized cellular cancer therapies based on chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) technology. The 30,000 square foot facility will double the university's capacity to investigate new uses for CARs, with R&D led by scientists and clinicians from Novartis and Penn. Construction on the Penn campus is slated for completion in 2016.
Novartis agreed to provide the university $20 million to establish CACT in 2012, when the partners entered a research and licensing deal to study and commercialize CAR immunotherapies for cancer (see BioCentury Extra, Aug. 8, 2012). ...