Pennsylvania’s already well-established biotech scene got word of a boost last week with several announcements, including the building of a massive life sciences manufacturing center in Pittsburgh thanks to some funding from an area nonprofit and a local university. But those jawns in Philadelphia aren’t letting go of its stranglehold on the state easily.

NeuExcell Therapeutics, a preclinical gene therapy biotech that focuses on neurodegenerative diseases, announced that it signed a deal with The Discovery Labs in King of Prussia, about 25 miles northwest of downtown Philly.

German biotech Affimed caught some attention earlier this year with a pair of complete responses in an early study of its NK cell regimen for lymphoma. The biotech is back with more data from that study, and the results look promising — but will durability hold up?

A combination regimen of donor NK cells and Affimed’s CD30-targeting innate cell engager AFM13 spurred responses in 16 of 18 patients with relapsed or refractory Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphomas, including seven complete responses, as part of the first of two rounds of treatment in a Phase I/II study, the biotech said Monday.

Bluebird bio may, at long last, get a gene therapy approved in the US.

The Cambridge, MA biotech announced Monday that the FDA had accepted and given priority review for Zynteglo, its gene therapy for the rare blood disorder beta-thalassemia. The announcement sets up an expedited FDA decision by May 20, 2022.

A priority review doesn’t guarantee approval, and more than a few recent biotechs have been spurned after receiving the designation, including Incyte, Sesen, and Provention. But it represents a substantial step forward for a therapy that has seen repeated setbacks and a company that not long ago had an application slapped down with a refuse-to-file letter.

A Belgian cell therapy company has secured $60 million in funding to strengthen its manufacturing operations, and grow the cell and gene therapy ecosystem across the world.

Ncardia landed the funding from Kiniciti, a US investment platform backed by Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, a New York City private equity company. The move gives Kiniciti a controlling stake in Ncardia to enhance anything from discovery to clinical programs to commercialized production, the company said in a press release.

A new cell and gene therapy testing facility in Philadelphia’s Navy Yard is officially opened, WuXi ATU announced Monday.

The new facility includes 140,000 square feet worth of laboratories, and will enhance the company’s contract testing, development and manufacturing organization business model by tripling the company’s previous capacity.

The move helps strengthen the existing testing capacity and capability, and combines the company’s powerful testing capabilities with its advanced therapies’ process development and manufacturing platforms, such as TESSA technology for AAV manufacturing and XLenti stable solutions for lentiviral manufacturing, it says in a press release.

The House Energy & Commerce Committee began marking up a dozen bills on Wednesday morning including one that would require the FDA to craft a five-year action plan for fostering the development of drugs that improve or extend the lives of people living with rare neurodegenerative diseases.

Rare neurodegenerative diseases, like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS, have been historically very difficult to treat. But this bipartisan bill, introduced by Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL), will provide $100 million for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026 to help HHS award grants to facilitate access to investigational drugs that diagnose or treat ALS.