Astellas Unveils Plans to Open New Biotech Campus in South San Francisco

New 154,000-square-foot facility will provide a West Coast center with a focus on research, innovation, and commercial collaboration across corporate and program areas

TOKYO and SAN FRANCISCO, July 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Astellas Pharma Inc. (TSE: 4503, President and CEO: Kenji Yasukawa, Ph.D., "Astellas") today announced plans to create an integrated biotechnology campus in South San Francisco as its West Coast innovation and research center. The new 154,000-square-foot building at 480 Forbes Boulevard will allow for the co-location of several Astellas business units and functions currently located independently throughout the San Francisco area.

The new innovation and research center will include employees across research, technical operations, medical and development, commercial, and relevant administrative support functions. Astellas will invest approximately $70 million to create the new state-of-the-art facility, which will provide lab and co-working spaces to accommodate future growth as it advances a range of innovative cell and gene therapies for patients with limited or no treatment options, including rare diseases and cancer.

"By uniting our business units in the Bay Area, we are creating a dedicated West Coast center in the vibrant South San Francisco corridor alongside other leaders in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry," said Yoshitsugu Shitaka, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer at Astellas. "Similar to the Astellas Biomedical Innovation Hub located in the greater Boston area, this new facility will foster even greater levels of collaboration amongst our world-class, multi-disciplinary teams working in cell and gene therapies, development of business opportunities and all those who support our endeavors to create value for patients."

Astellas expects to complete the building and be operational in summer 2023. Astellas will be the sole occupant of the new building and will spend the next year equipping the interior with state-of-the-art research labs, office spaces, and other amenities specifically designed to accommodate the West Coast employees of Astellas Gene Therapies, Xyphos Biosciences, business development, Rx+^® Business Accelerator, and the planned future growth within those units. In addition, the co-location of these businesses allows for more efficient use of space by combining the lab and office facilities into one new building, compared to current independent locations.

Astellas' VISION is to be at the forefront of healthcare change and to turn innovative science into VALUE for patients. Under this vision, Astellas is focused on bringing life-changing cell and gene therapy treatments to patients suffering from diseases that lack treatment options.

Astellas has already reflected the impact from this matter in its financial forecast of the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2023.

About Astellas
Astellas Pharma Inc. is a pharmaceutical company conducting business in more than 70 countries around the world. We are promoting the Focus Area Approach that is designed to identify opportunities for the continuous creation of new drugs to address diseases with high unmet medical needs by focusing on Biology and Modality. Furthermore, we are also looking beyond our foundational Rx focus to create Rx+^® healthcare solutions that combine our expertise and knowledge with cutting-edge technology in different fields of external partners. Through these efforts, Astellas stands on the forefront of healthcare change to turn innovative science into value for patients. For more information, please visit our website at https://www.astellas.com/en.

About Astellas Gene Therapies
Astellas Gene Therapies is an Astellas Center of Excellence developing genetic medicines with the potential to deliver transformative value for patients. Our gene therapy drug discovery engine is built around innovative science, a validated AAV platform, and industry leading internal manufacturing capability with a particular focus on rare diseases of the eye, CNS and neuromuscular system. We will also be advancing additional Astellas gene therapy programs toward clinical investigation. We are based in San Francisco, with manufacturing and laboratory facilities in South San Francisco, Calif., and Sanford, N.C. 

About Xyphos Biosciences, Inc., an Astellas Company
Xyphos Biosciences Inc., located in South San Francisco, Calif., is an Astellas Center of Excellence for Cancer Cell Therapy developing medicines to cure solid tumors with a precision, off-the-shelf "Standard Pharmaceutical like Cell Therapy" platform, which can be easily tailored to the needs of individual patients and adapted to multiple disease targets.  Utilizing a deep understanding of cancer biology and the tumor microenvironment, we are developing a flexible and versatile platform to direct the body's immune cells to target single or multiple tumor antigens to fuel a stronger immune response, while avoiding immune rejection.  By combining our ACCEL™ technology, a universal CAR (chimeric antigen receptor), and Universal Cells' Universal Donor Cells (UDC) technology, we aim to create a unique platform that offers greater speed and flexibility compared to currently approved chimeric antigen receptor cell therapies and expands potential value for as many cancer patients as possible.

Cautionary Notes
In this press release, statements made with respect to current plans, estimates, strategies and beliefs and other statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements about the future performance of Astellas. These statements are based on management's current assumptions and beliefs in light of the information currently available to it and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: (i) changes in general economic conditions and in laws and regulations, relating to pharmaceutical markets, (ii) currency exchange rate fluctuations, (iii) delays in new product launches, (iv) the inability of Astellas to market existing and new products effectively, (v) the inability of Astellas to continue to effectively research and develop products accepted by customers in highly competitive markets, and (vi) infringements of Astellas' intellectual property rights by third parties.

Information about pharmaceutical products (including products currently in development) which is included in this press release is not intended to constitute an advertisement or medical advice.

SOURCE Astellas Pharma Inc.