Sonoma Biotherapeutics Enters Long-Term Lease Agreement to Establish a Treg Cell Therapy R&D and Manufacturing Center
Sonoma Biotherapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing engineered regulatory T cell (Treg) therapies for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, announced that it has entered into a lease agreement to develop an approximately 83,000 square-foot Research and Development (R&D) and Manufacturing Center to expand its operations in Seattle and complement its existing R&D enterprise in South San Francisco. The state-of-the-art Center will support the R&D and manufacturing of Sonoma Bio’s pipeline of gene-modified Treg therapies for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases at scale.
“Sonoma Bio is at the forefront of developing Treg therapies to treat autoimmune and inflammatory diseases by restoring balance to the immune system, and we are establishing robust and nimble infrastructure from end-to-end to deliver these cellular products,” said Heidi Hagen, Chief Technical Officer of Sonoma Biotherapeutics. “Through the integration of our R&D engine with next-generation process development and cell therapy production tools, we will have the ability to quickly and efficiently deliver potentially transformative therapies to patients in need.”
This R&D and Manufacturing Center will include the development and use of cutting-edge technologies and capabilities from cell selection and genetic modification to intelligent manufacturing automation and information technology systems. The integration of this infrastructure and scientific expertise will enable Sonoma Bio to move efficiently from molecular target identification to in-house full-scale production for multiple product candidates and indications in Phase 2 clinical trials and beyond. The Center will be located on the Seattle waterfront at 501 Elliott Avenue West, a property owned by Office Properties Income Trust and being redeveloped by The RMR Group into Unison Elliott Bay.
“Seattle has an established legacy of delivering many firsts in the cell therapy field for cancer, and we are building upon those insights to advance our pipeline of engineered Treg therapies for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases,” said Jeff Bluestone, Ph.D., Co-Founder and CEO of Sonoma Biotherapeutics. “This Center will create highly-skilled scientific, engineering and manufacturing jobs in the Seattle area, taking advantage of the deep local capabilities and expertise. As we move into the next phase of growth at Sonoma Bio, we want to unite talent across the thriving life science communities of Seattle and San Francisco.”