junolab-photo
Photo via Juno

Juno Therapeutics, the fast-growing Seattle biotechnology company, today announced that it plans to open a new manufacturing facility in Bothell for its cell therapy products. The facility will open in 2016, with the company saying it will support Juno’s clinical trials and clinical programs, as well as its first commercial products.

“The Bothell manufacturing facility is an important milestone for Juno,” said Juno CEO Hans Bishop in a statement. “The manufacturing expertise we are developing is key to our long term success, increasing our ability to run multiple clinical trials and commercialize our pipeline, and as a platform to introduce the various innovations we are investing in to optimize patient outcomes.”

The facility is 67,799 square-feet, and the company said it would provide updates on the number of staffers who will work there once the facility opens.

In a statement, Washington governor Jay Inslee said that “we are thrilled to have Juno as a part of our life science ecosystem.”

Juno went public at $24 per share in December, and since then the biotech company has performed well in the public markets. Shares are now trading above $40, giving the company a market value of $3.8 billion.

Backed by Arch Venture Partners, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and others, the company is a spin out of  Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Seattle Children’s Research Institute. It raised $314 million in venture funding prior to its IPO.

Juno is using human T cells as therapeutic entities in the treatment of cancer.

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