Groundbreaking Marks the Start of a New Era in Cell Therapy Innovation
On May 28, 2025, the first steps were taken toward building the Cellerator – a state-of-the-art clinical manufacturing facility for cell therapies – at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). This groundbreaking event marks the beginning of an ambitious effort to transform scientific breakthroughs into life-changing treatments.
More than 100 guests gathered on-site to celebrate the beginning of construction, including key voices from the Novo Nordisk Foundation, DTU, and the Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality.
Cellerator: Bridging the Gap from Research to Treatment
Cellerator’s mission is bold and clear: to close the critical gap between promising scientific discoveries and real-world medical treatments – a gap often referred to as “the innovation valley of death.” Too many breakthroughs in the lab never make it to patients. Cellerator aims to change that.
By uniting cutting-edge technology, highly skilled teams, and seamless access to both academic and industrial expertise, Cellerator will serve as a launchpad for early-stage cell therapy projects – taking therapies from proof-of-concept in animals to testing in humans.
“With cell therapies, we can treat not only the symptoms of the diseases but ultimately cure the diseases”, said Thomas Carlsen, CEO of Cellerator. “But we still have a long way to go. Many cell therapies don’t reach the paitients. There is a critical gap between the research findings in the laboratories and the clinical trials. The Cellerator is NNFs answer to what is needed to close this gap.”
A Hub for Innovation in the Heart of Denmark
Located at DTU – one of Europe’s leading technical universities – Cellerator will foster a thriving ecosystem of researchers, clinicians, engineers, and startups. DTU’s tradition of translating basic science into real-world solutions makes it the ideal home for this new venture.
DTU’s scientists and engineers have for more than 200 years been finding ways to bridge the gaps. Doing the science and making the research work, said Margrethe Vestager, Chair of DTU’s board. “For this reason DTU is the perfect host for the Cellerator.”
The facility is designed to be disease-agnostic and open to both academic and commercial collaborators. Its vision extends beyond national borders, positioning Denmark as a European hub for cell therapy development.
Supported by Visionary Partners
The Novo Nordisk Foundation, a longstanding leader in supporting translational medicine, is the driving force behind Cellerator. “We started 30 years ago to try to understand mouse stem cells” said Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen, CEO of Novo Nordisk Foundation. “Now the reasearchers at ReNew can tease out cells, neurones for the brain, beating heart cells for heart patients or insulin producing cells for the diabetics. But this in not good enough. We cannot scale it up. There are still many technical and regulatory aspects to solve”
The Foundation envisions Cellerator as part of a broader strategy to strengthen Europe’s innovation pipeline and ensure that groundbreaking therapies are not just discovered—but delivered.
Impact for the local Community and Beyond
Sofia Osmani, mayor of the Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality, highlighted the local impact of the facility: “Lyngby-Taarbæk is known as the city of knowledge, and will be a perfect fit for the Cellerator”
Cellerator is expected to attract talent from across Europe and beyond, catalyzing not only scientific progress but also community development and economic growth.
Looking Ahead
Cellerator’s construction marks the start of an ambitious journey—one rooted in the belief that collaboration, science, and infrastructure can come together to deliver curative therapies to those who need them most. As Carlsen noted in closing, “This is more than a building. It’s a mission in action”
Stay tuned as we build the future of cell therapy—together.
