TGen planning to build a cell therapy manufacturing facility in Phoenix

The Phoenix-based Translational Genomics Research Institute is planning to build a local cell therapy manufacturing facility to improve cancer treatment.

The California-based City of Hope cancer research center, along with TGen, announced Thursday the intent to develop the facility in Phoenix. TGen is an affiliate of City of Hope. 

No estimated cost, location or timeline for the facility was available Thursday, but officials with TGen say the aim is to build it as soon as possible. A facility here is expected to result in more clinical trials in Phoenix, said Jeffrey Trent, TGen's president and research director.

TGen officials say the facility should help meet an urgent need for accelerating cancer cures for patients in Arizona and Southern California.

The facility is expected to produce chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells, which have already been effective in treating leukemia and lymphoma.

Arizona's streamlined regulatory system and availability of labor, among other factors, make Phoenix an ideal place for such a facility, Trent said. He said that demand for clinical cell therapies is outpacing supply. Houston has three cell manufacturing facilities, for example, and Philadelphia has two.

Cell therapy manufacturing works by engineering someone's own immune cells to attack their cancer. Trent compared it to having a dog sniff someone's shirt and then go hunt that person down. The engineered immune cells hunt down and kill the cancer.

"The road to future cancer cures requires genomic-enabled medicine and the type of immune-system enhancements that would result from this cell therapy manufacturing facility," Trent said in a news release, adding that the facility will give Arizona patients access to new treatments.

"City of Hope's clinical and manufacturing expertise in immunotherapy is at the forefront of this field, and combined with TGen's genomic testing, offers patients new hope for their future."

The announcement further enhances Arizona's reputation as a hub for bioscience and health-care innovation, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey said in a written statement. 

"Our state offers a strong concentration of talent ready to meet the needs of this facility," he said. "The work being conducted by City of Hope and TGen is critical in the fight against cancer, and Arizona is proud to play a role in it."