UCLA Opens Center for Advanced Biotherapies

The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) recently opened the Center for Advanced Biotherapies, a 14,000-square-foot manufacturing facility designed to support the development and delivery of cell and gene therapies for patients enrolled in clinical trials.

The facility nearly doubles the institution's capacity to manufacture cell and gene therapy products and can produce up to 150 therapies annually. UCLA said the center's proximity to its hospitals and clinics may help accelerate the transition of investigational therapies from manufacturing to early-phase clinical trials.

“I’m excited about the opportunity to support many more patients who need these cutting-edge therapies,” said Dawn Ward, MD, CABP, the center’s medical director, and a member of the AABB Board of Directors. “This facility will allow us to support scientists at UCLA and across the country and hopefully help move these products all the way to the patients who need them.”

The facility was supported in part by funding from the National Institutes of Health and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.