Bristol Myers Squibb has selected Leiden, Netherlands to house a new cell therapy manufacturing site in Europe, leveraging the growing life sciences region near Amsterdam and convenient access to transportation for shipping patient cells.

As part of Bristol Myers Squibb’s continuing commitment to patients with aggressive hematological cancers and its growing cell therapy franchise, the company is making this significant new investment to expand global manufacturing capacity and bring treatments to patients faster. Leiden will be the company’s fifth state-of-the-art cell therapy manufacturing facility and first in Europe, in addition to major contract manufacturing partnerships globally.

“A key element of BMS’ commitment to cell therapy is our continuous investment in advanced manufacturing capabilities, from the expansion of our global network and capacity to treat patients to reduced turn-around time and optimized costs,” said Ann Lee, senior vice president, cell therapy development and operations, Bristol Myers Squibb. “We continue to grow our presence in Europe and the Netherlands, which offers an innovative life sciences hub and world class industry talent, and we look forward to hiring several hundred talented people over the coming years to join our global team and participate in our cell therapy journey.” 

The European facility will be commercially focused with capabilities for multi-product cell therapy manufacturing and the ability to scale up capacity. It will leverage innovative technologies, the latest manufacturing equipment and advanced digital systems to deliver these critical cell therapies to patients.

Planning for site design and development is underway, with construction slated to begin later this year.