- Cellares has secured a site and signed a long-term lease for a new IDMO Smart Factory at Leiden Bio Science Park in the Netherlands.
- The facility will serve as the company’s European headquarters and provide regional automated cell therapy manufacturing capacity.
Cellares has secured a site and signed a long-term lease for a new Integrated Development and Manufacturing Organization (IDMO) Smart Factory at Leiden Bio Science Park. The facility, leased from Dura Vermeer Commercieel Vastgoed, will serve as Cellares’ European headquarters and expand its global manufacturing network with dedicated regional capacity.
The Netherlands site is intended to support automated cell therapy manufacturing programmes for European drug developers as therapies move from clinical development towards commercial supply. Cellares stated that regional capacity is important for patient-specific and time-sensitive cell therapies, while maintaining a common production standard across its global facilities.
The leased premises comprise approximately 9,741 square metres of laboratory and office space within the Nexus building in Leiden. The building is currently under development and is expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2026. Cellares plans a phased fit-out following delivery, with initial occupancy anticipated later in 2026.
“Cell therapies are manufactured to order for each patient, and the work is time-sensitive, which makes on-continent capacity a practical requirement for European programs. The European hub will provide a local supply path while maintaining consistency through a single automated standard.”
Fabian Gerlinghaus, co-founder and CEO of Cellares
Following completion of the fit-out, the site is expected to deploy Cellares’ Cell Shuttle™ automated manufacturing platforms and Cell Q™ quality control systems. The Leiden facility builds on the company’s commercial-scale Smart Factory in Bridgewater, New Jersey, and its original operations in South San Francisco, with additional Smart Factory capacity in development in Japan, supporting Cellares’ global IDMO and contract manufacturing network.
