Shire halts construction of Cali regenerative medicine plant
In 2012, the firm laid down plans to increase capacity for its skin biofabrication therapy, Dermagraft, with a new facility in Sorrento Mesa, San Diego but has now u-turned following a change in strategy over indications of the regenerative device.
“The new facility was intended for future use of Dermagraft in new indications like Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB),” Shire spokesperson Katie Sweet told Biopharma-Reporter.com.
However, she continued, the firm “recently decided to discontinue the EB program with Dermagraft during an internal business review” and has concluded “existing manufacturing site has adequate capacity to produce Dermagraft for the foreseeable future.”
The 150,000 square feet site was intended to manufacture Shire’s regenerative medicine pipeline on top of Dermagratf, but for now Shire plans to continue manufacturing from its La Jolla, California.
Dermagraft
Dermagraft is an approved treatment for patients with diabetic foot ulcers, manufactured from human fibroblast cells derived from newborn foreskin tissue.
The human fibroblasts are seeded onto a bioresorbable scaffold during the manufacturing process, where they multiply to fill the gaps of this scaffold and secrete human dermal collagen matrix proteins, growth factors, and cytokines in order to create a living skin substitute.
According to the firm’s annual report, 2012 sales stood at $154m, up 46% from the year before.
