Legend opens new cell therapy R&D facility in Philly

Legend Biotech announced the official opening and ribbon cutting of its new R&D facility in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The 31,000-square-foot facility is now fully operational and will support Legend’s expanding pipeline of next-generation cell therapies. The site features labs and collaborative workspaces designed to foster innovation and accelerate research programs across Legend’s oncology and immunology portfolios.

Headquartered in Somerset, New Jersey, Legend also has manufacturing activities in Raritan and Morris Plains, New Jersey. The Philadelphia R&D center expands Legend’s American presence, which includes over 1,400 employees in the U.S. The site will employ approximately 55 full-time team members and complements Legend’s existing R&D presence in Piscataway, New Jersey.

Legend’s Carvykti, jointly developed and commercialized with J&J’s Janssen Biotech, holds the distinction of being the first and only B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-targeted therapy approved for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma as early as first relapse. First approved by the FDA in 2022 for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma after four or more prior lines of therapy, Carvykti’s approval was expanded in 2024, allowing use in patients who have received at least one prior line of therapy.

The CAR-T cell therapy generated $963 million in sales in 2024. To date, it has been administered to over 9,000 patients with multiple myeloma at 132 treatment centers spanning 44 states across the U.S.