On Thursday, Lithuania’s biotechnology and pharmaceutical group Northway officially opened Celltechna, the first gene therapy centre in the Baltic countries, in Vilnius, with an investment of 50 million euros.
The centre is part of the Bio City project. Investments in Bio City, Europe's largest biotechnology campus with four factories and two research centres, are projected to reach around 7 billion euros over the next decade and create more than 2,000 jobs.
“The opening of the first gene therapy centre in the Baltic states marks another step forward in building a world-class life sciences infrastructure in our country,” Economy and Innovation Minister Aušrinė Armonaitė said.
According to the centre’s owners, it will provide advanced gene therapy drug development and manufacturing services to pharmaceutical companies in Europe and the United States.
“Lithuania’s ambition to generate 5 percent of the country’s GDP from biotechnology by 2030 is gaining momentum with the construction of Bio City, the largest life sciences and technology campus in Europe,” the press release stated.
Vladas Algirdas Bumelis, the group’s CEO, has said the entire campus will cover an area roughly the size of 10 football fields.
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