CEL-SCI to get new manufacturing facility

Virginia, USA-based CEL-SCI Corp says it expects to take delivery of the new manufacturing facility for its lead drug Multikine, a mixture of naturally-derived cytokines, on October 8. This dedicated facility will produce the Multikine that will be used for the firm's pivotal Phase III clinical trial for first-line therapy of previously-untreated head and neck cancer patients, and subsequently for sale following approval of the drug. The facility, which cost about $22.0 million to build, is state of the art and commercial ready.

Geert Kersten, CEL-SCI's chief executive, said: "Multikine started with the idea that activating the immune system to fight cancer could be beneficial and successful, as long as you could activate the immune system before it was weakened by surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. Our clinical studies showed significant benefit to the cancer patients treated with Multikine. We are now in the home stretch. Having our own Multikine-dedicated manufacturing facility gives us control and eliminates a great deal of risk from our product development."