Thermo Fisher moves on campus with new cell manufacturing site in San Francisco

Thermo Fisher Scientific is putting down more roots in the Bay Area.

The manufacturer opened the doors to a new cell therapy manufacturing facility next to the University of California-San Francisco Medical Center’s Mission Bay campus and on the university’s campus.

UCSF and Thermo Fisher have had a partnership since 2021, with the new site focusing on manufacturing cell therapeutics for certain cancers, including glioblastoma and multiple myeloma. The new site plans to use Thermo Fisher’s expertise in manufacturing services to help UCSF accelerate the development of cell therapies and eventually get them into the clinic, said Dan Herring, the general manager of cell therapy services at Thermo Fisher, in an interview with Endpoints News.

Dan Herring

“CAR-T cell therapies are moving earlier and earlier. They’re late-stage right now, but we want to be part of the team that is driving them to be more prolific at the earlier treatment options,” Herring said.

The facility is 44,000 square feet and contains six manufacturing suites which are now up and running. Herring said the building is a former plumbing parts warehouse and manufacturing building that UCSF acquired. It was converted to a cell therapy manufacturing site by Thermo Fisher.

There’s also room to build six more suites, Herring said, adding that the site can make autologous and allogeneic cell therapies and will have analytical development as well as the standard manufacturing processes and the ability for tech transfers. He did not confirm headcount or cost of the facility to Endpoints.

Herring is bullish on the idea of Thermo Fisher working with academic institutions even more in the future.

“The concept of being close to the patients is really hard to do, but also exciting when it’s accomplished. And I think that we’ve accomplished that,” he said.

manufacturing
therapeutics
cell therapy
medical