Cellares’ new IDMO Smart Factory in Leiden, Netherlands, expands commercial-scale manufacturing capacity for European cell therapy patient populations through a standardized, automated, and highly scalable facility model
Cellares, the first Integrated Development and Manufacturing Organization (IDMO), today announced it has secured a site and signed a long-term lease for a new IDMO Smart Factory at Leiden Bio Science Park (LBSP) with Dura Vermeer Commercieel Vastgoed. The facility will serve as Cellares’ European headquarters and expand the company’s global manufacturing network with dedicated regional capacity.
Cell therapy manufacturing is patient-specific and time-sensitive, making regional production capacity increasingly important as programs advance from clinical development toward commercial supply. The new Netherlands hub is designed to provide European drug developers with access to automated manufacturing infrastructure, while maintaining alignment to a common production standard across Cellares’ global facilities.
The leased premises comprise approximately 9,741 square meters (about 105,000 square feet LFA) of laboratory and office space within the Nexus building in Leiden, a newly constructed life sciences facility currently under development and expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2026. Following delivery, Cellares plans to complete a phased fit-out to prepare the facility for operations, 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,” said Fabian Gerlinghaus, Co-founder and CEO of Cellares. “A European hub gives partners a local supply path while keeping control consistent across geographies through a single automated standard.”
The Leiden site is intended to support automated cell therapy manufacturing programs for European and global partners as they plan regional clinical and commercial supply. Following delivery and completion of the fit-out, the Netherlands Smart Factory is expected to deploy Cellares’ fully automated Cell Shuttle™ manufacturing platforms and Cell Q™ quality control systems to enable consistent execution and streamlined process transfer across geographies, extending the company’s global IDMO network across North America, Asia, and Europe.
“Cellares’ decision to choose Leiden demonstrates that LBSP plays a key role in facilitating companies in the field of advanced therapies as they scale toward industrial-level and standardized manufacturing,” said Stijn van de Sande, Director of Dura Vermeer Commercieel Vastgoed. “Our role is to develop and deliver an environment that can support that bar, and to work with Cellares during the fit-out so the site meets the requirements of its automated manufacturing model.”
The Netherlands site builds on Cellares’ commercial-scale IDMO Smart Factory in Bridgewater, New Jersey, and its original manufacturing operations in South San Francisco, with additional Smart Factory capacity in development in Japan. Together, these sites are designed to support reliable process transfer, accelerated scale-up, and a consistent manufacturing standard that expands patient access to cell therapies worldwide. CBRE is the global real estate advisor for Cellares.
