MultiCell Technologies, the Warwick-based biotechnology firm that was acquired last year as a wholly owned subsidiary of San Diego-based Exten Industries Inc., has signed a new lease in Warwick to accommodate the company’s growth.
The developer of liver cell-based products plans to move into a 10,000-square-foot laboratory at 222 Metro Center Boulevard this summer. The new facility more than doubles the size of its existing space on Access Road, allowing the company to accelerate its research activities and commercial production of cell lines and therapeutic proteins.
"This will catalyze our growth for sure," said Dr. Ron Faris, president of MultiCell. "We are expanding a number of existing research programs and developing new innovative cell-based technologies for liver support and liver-tissue regeneration. Our new facility will enable us to consolidate our research and product-development divisions at one location."
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MultiCell develops cell lines for use in Exten’s liver-assistance device. The device is similar to a dialysis machine for kidney-failure patients, helping to sustain basic liver functions for patients awaiting liver transplants.
But since being acquired by Exten, MultiCell has broadened its scope to include strategic partnerships with pharmaceutical companies, which use the company’s cell lines in drug discovery and toxicology testing. Faris said MultiCell’s immortalized human liver cells may offer drug companies a more effective alternative to the animal cells that are now widely used in such tests.
MultiCell also has begun developing therapeutic human proteins, which can be transplanted directly into diseased livers. "We determined that the cell lines developed to date produce a variety of proteins, such as clotting factors, that have therapeutic value," Faris said.
A lack of space has prevented MultiCell from adding to its staff of 10 employees. Faris said the new facility would allow the company to boost its headcount by 50 percent or more.
Greg Szabo, president of Exten and chief executive officer of MultiCell, said the new facility is needed to add to manufacturing capacity.
"By securing new laboratory and manufacturing space, MultiCell is better able to advance our existing immortalized cells, expand our technologies for cell-based therapeutic protein development, and continue important research and development of adult liver stem cells," Szabo said in a written statement.
Roughly 80 percent of the new space will be used for research-and-development, while the balance will be used for manufacturing of cell lines, Faris said.
