Kincell Bio, a cell therapy contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) with a Research Triangle Park facility, announced on September 17, 2026 that it completed a merger with Cellipont Bioservices, based in The Woodlands, Texas, to form Kincellis Advanced Therapies, a scaled U.S.-based CDMO for advanced-therapy developers. CEO Darren Head said: “Kincell and Cellipont are highly complementary in their science, facilities and the stages of development they serve. Together, we can offer customers broader expertise and a more connected path from process and analytical development through late-stage manufacturing, while maintaining the responsiveness and hands-on partnership that are essential in cell therapy.”
A Combined Footprint Across Three States
Kincellis now operates roughly 140,000 square feet across three sites, in Gainesville, Florida; Research Triangle Park, North Carolina; and The Woodlands, Texas, with 16 qualified GMP manufacturing suites and more than 200 team members. The combined organization has released more than 150 GMP batches and is supporting 10 IND filings in 2026, spanning autologous and allogeneic therapy modalities including CAR-T, Tregs, CAR-NK, MSCs, dendritic cell vaccines, exosomes, iPSCs, and synthetic mRNA. President Larry Pitcher framed the integration around continuity for existing customers: “Our priorities are clear: maintain continuity for every customer, connect the strongest capabilities of both organizations and build a common platform that can scale with customer needs. This combination creates meaningful opportunities for our customers, our teams and the advanced-therapies industry.”
Backed by New Equity and a J.P. Morgan Debt Facility
The merger was supported by equity financing led by NewSpring Capital, with participation from existing investors Kineticos Life Sciences, HealthQuest Capital, and Great Point Partners, alongside a debt facility from J.P. Morgan; financial terms were not disclosed, and William Blair & Company served as financial advisor on the deal. Executive Chair Mark Bamforth OBE tied the financing and combination to the company’s broader ambitions: “Kincellis brings together the expertise, infrastructure and experience needed to support advanced-therapy innovators as their programs grow from the clinic toward commercial supply. We are creating a stronger, more scalable partner built around the realities of advanced-therapy development and supply.”
About Kincellis Advanced Therapies
Kincellis Advanced Therapies is a U.S.-based contract development and manufacturing organization supporting advanced-therapy developers from early-stage CMC, process and analytical development through clinical supply, pivotal-stage programs and commercial supply. With facilities in Gainesville, Florida; Research Triangle Park, North Carolina; and The Woodlands, Texas, Kincellis combines broad technical expertise with flexible, scalable GMP infrastructure across autologous and allogeneic therapies.
