Building technology by Honeywell is helping to power Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre’s cutting-edge $105m (Australian Dollar) cell and gene therapy manufacturing facility located in Melbourne, Australia.
Honeywell is a multinational conglomerate that operates in a wide range of industries, primarily focusing on technology, manufacturing, and engineering services.
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre is a cancer research, education, and treatment centre dedicated to caring for people affected by cancer.
Co-funded by the Australian Federal Government, the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, and individual donors, the Good Manufacturing Process (GMP) facility was completed in 2023.
Building technology by Honeywell is helping to power Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre’s cell and gene therapy manufacturing facility
The Cancer Centre is operated by Cell Therapies, an Australian-based Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisation (CDMO) specialising in cell therapies, particularly for cancer and immune disorders.
The new facility is Australia’s only biomedical manufacturing facility where CAR T-cells and other ‘living’ cell-based therapies are produced at commercial scale to treat patients with blood cancers.
Further, as Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre’s partner manufacturer, the new manufacturing capacity enables Cell Therapies to support their IP accelerator platform, translating Australian-led research onshore.
The manufacturing facility’s building management technologies are purpose-built and managed centrally through the Honeywell Enterprise Buildings Integrator (EBI) platform to address the ecosystem’s unique needs, including:
- A new Building Management System (BMS) that controls the facility’s energy and captures data to ensure it remains compliant with stringent healthcare and pharmaceutical requirements
- A new operational technology (OT) security system to protect the critical work being carried out by the facility’s scientists
- Environmental management and monitoring systems to ensure air temperature and humidity remain at optimal levels
- Complete redundancy of mechanical services for each of the facility’s cleanrooms
The new facility is Australia’s only biomedical manufacturing facility where CAR T-cells and other ‘living’ cell-based therapies are produced at commercial scale to treat patients with blood cancers
The deployment of these technologies was particularly complex because the work had to occur in a live hospital and operating environment where infection control is critical to patient safety.
The environment has also been tested against a list of requirements from the Federal Government’s Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) and Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), safeguarding the health and safety of people and ensuring that high-quality cell-based products can be manufactured in the facility.
Director of the Centre of Excellence in Cellular Immunotherapy, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Professor Simon Harrison, said: “These are bespoke building technologies that are enabling us to deliver cutting edge treatments for people with cancer. These treatments are changing lives.”
CEO of Cell Therapies, Dr Bev Menner, said: "We are proud to operate this world-class facility, manufacturing innovative ‘living drugs’ for Australian patients.
"The large scale, high throughput manufacturing capacity combined with our highly skilled workforce represents a sovereign advanced manufacturing capability that supports cell and gene therapy product development from concept to commercialisation."
We are proud to partner with the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre to help build what is truly a one-of-its-kind facility in the southern hemisphere
Vice President and General Manager of Services at Honeywell Building Automation, Laura Laltrello, said: "We are proud to partner with the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre to help build what is truly a one-of-its-kind facility in the southern hemisphere.
"The facility is a testament to the highly customised capabilities Honeywell’s building automation technologies can deliver to organisations across the life sciences industry that are working to solve some of the world’s biggest challenges."
Further, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre is located within the $1bn Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre facility.
Honeywell is the services contractor to the Plenary Health consortium also comprising Plenary Group as sponsor, investor, and financial arranger, and the Grocon PCL joint venture as builder.
Contracted by the Victorian Government to finance, design, build, and maintain the centre for 25 years under a public-private partnership.
