Merit Complete UK’s First CAR-T Cell Manufacturing Facility for Autolus Therapeutics

Offsite engineering and construction company, Merit, has completed the first stage of its £66m car-T cell manufacturing facility, which is the first of its kind in the UK. The new facility, which is four stories tall and covers 7,500m2, will be used by the growing clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Autolus Therapeutics to expand its capacity for the development of next-generation programmed T cell therapies targeting cancer. Merit was the main contractor for the project. The facility is expected to create 400 new jobs and have the capacity to process 2000 treatments every year.

This facility will be part of the world’s third-largest cluster of cell and gene therapy manufacturers in the world, situated within the Stevenage, UK, life science hub, a project led by developers Reef Group and UBS Assets Management. The first phase of the project was completed in just 17 months, including planning and designing, with only 12 of these spent on site, making it three years faster than the industry standard.

Merit utilized its FLEXI POD® platform — a hybrid solution for the construction of high-technology facilities — which mixes modern methods of construction with an offsite-manufactured fit-out using a Pre-Assembled Module and POD strategy. Three-quarters of the build — 900 tons — was manufactured off-site at Merit’s Northumberland-based factory.

This innovative approach to construction increases productivity and saves Autolus capital and revenue, as well as consultant costs. Furthermore, it also increases sustainability by reducing project carbon emissions. The facility has been designed according to BREEAM Excellent rating, with scope 1 net zero carbon enabled using heat source pumps and heat recovery systems, and 5D BIM technology to reduce waste.

“We are very proud to have been able to deploy our unique offsite construction methods to deliver this vital facility in record time. Productivity is an issue in traditional construction methods, but our approach means projects are delivered more quickly and also crucially more sustainably,” said Tony Wells, CEO of Merit. The whole project is predicted to be completed by Merit at an accelerated 22 months, with Autolus already being provided with Grade C clean rooms in the first phase.

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