Thermo Fisher opens collaboration center to help accelerate cell therapy development

April 17, 2025

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced the opening of its Advanced Therapies Collaboration Center (ATxCC) in Carlsbad, California, which is meant to help biopharma, biotech, and translational customers accelerate their development and commercialization of cell therapies.

While these potentially curative therapies offer hope to patients, the manufacturing and commercialization process remains complex and challenging. Thermo Fisher’s new 6,000-square-foot center in Carlsbad is designed to help cell therapy developers “transition from research-scale to commercialization” by creating end-to-end manufacturing workflows that can be scaled to support their clinical and commercial activities.

“By enabling access to our expertise and broad range of instrumentation, reagents, lab equipment and analytical solutions, we aim to help our customers overcome manufacturing hurdles and accelerate their path to commercialization,” Betty Woo, vice president for cell, gene and advanced therapies at Thermo Fisher, said in a statement.

The opening of ATxCC in Carlsbad is the company’s latest collaboration center, adding to its established facilities in Korea and Singapore. Thermo Fisher said it also plans to expand its footprint in Philadelphia later this year. Both centers are designed to offer clinical and commercial current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) process development.

Cell therapies are experiencing “unprecedented” growth, Woo told Pharma Manufacturing in December 2024, with automation potentially reducing the cost and time of manufacturing, as well as eliminating “the potential errors associated with open processes with human intervention.”

In the field of CAR T-cell therapies, Woo pointed to advances over the past couple of years, particularly when it comes to speeding up the processes involved.

“Traditional CAR T manufacturing took three weeks or more and we have definitely — over the last few years — seen a lot more focus on accelerated processes and process intensification, so that now you even hear about manufacturing processes that are occurring in a matter of days and with higher potencies,” Woo said.

About the Author

Greg Slabodkin | Editor in Chief

As Editor in Chief, Greg oversees all aspects of planning, managing and producing the content for Pharma Manufacturing’s print magazines, website, digital products, and in-person events, as well as the daily operations of its editorial team.

For more than 20 years, Greg has covered the healthcare, life sciences, and medical device industries for several trade publications. He is the recipient of a Post-Newsweek Business Information Editorial Excellence Award for his news reporting and a Gold Award for Best Case Study from the American Society of Healthcare Publication Editors. In addition, Greg is a Healthcare Fellow from the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing.

When not covering the pharma manufacturing industry, he is an avid Buffalo Bills football fan, likes to kayak and plays guitar.