Northway Biotech Invests €61 Million in Vilnius Cell Therapy Manufacturing Center
The most advanced cell therapy infrastructure in the Baltic region is being developed in Vilnius. Northway Biotech, a protein-based biologics and ATMPs CDMO, is finalizing the installation of a new, 3,500-square-meter Innovative Cell Therapy and Personalized Medicine Center at the Vilnius City Innovation Industrial Park (VCIIP).
Northway Biotech is opening a €61 million cell therapy center in Vilnius, the latest addition to a growing biotech campus the group has built from the ground up — already home to two manufacturing buildings, a logistics center, and an operating gene therapy facility across three Bio City complexes.
The center will feature 20 independent production lines compliant with cGMP standards, equipped with integrated quality control laboratories, advanced cleanroom systems, and an isolated infrastructure tailored for the production of highly sensitive cell therapies. This infrastructure will allow for the simultaneous, safe, and efficient production of individualized therapies for different patients, ensuring maximum process sterility, full production traceability, and strict cross-contamination control.
The new infrastructure significantly contributes to Lithuania's ambition to become one of the most important life sciences hubs in the Baltic region. The country aims for the life sciences sector to generate up to 5% of the national GDP in the future, and life sciences industrial parks like Bio City represent one of the key steps toward achieving this goal.
Scaling Advanced Therapies for a Global Market
CAR-T and other cell therapies are already being used in university hospitals, but manufacturing capacity remains a critical bottleneck globally — and Europe is especially underserved. Northway Biotech's new Vilnius center aims to address this directly, offering large-scale contract manufacturing for hospitals, biotech firms, and research institutions worldwide. Beyond oncology, the facility will advance regenerative and longevity medicine, produce individualized therapeutic vaccines, and develop 3D human tissue technologies for drug testing and, ultimately, artificial organ creation — with isolated production lines designed to handle therapies for multiple patients simultaneously without cross-contamination risk.
The Entire Biologics Value Chain in One Place
A major advantage of the new center is its integration with the nearby Gene Therapy Center located in the Bio City II complex, which has been developing and manufacturing gene therapy medicinal products since 2024. This technological proximity will significantly shorten the biological drug manufacturing chain - from the preparation of genetic material to the production of the final cell therapy product.
"In global pharmaceuticals, one of the biggest issues today is a complex supply chain and a lengthy waiting process for genetic material. By creating an interconnected biotechnology infrastructure in Vilnius, we can ensure a much faster and more efficient manufacturing process of advanced therapies for our international clients," says Vladas Algirdas Bumelis, CEO, Executive Chairman of the Board & Advisory Board.
According to him, by combining the new cell therapy and tissue technology platform with the existing gene therapy and recombinant protein manufacturing infrastructure, one of the most advanced biotechnology ecosystems in the region is being formed in Vilnius. This ecosystem is oriented toward the contract manufacturing of high-value-added cell, gene, and recombinant protein therapies for the global market.
