FLORHAM PARK — Biotech firm Celularity Inc. has entered a new manufacturing collaboration that could bring $300 million in business and more than 200 jobs to its Florham Park facility.
The agreement, announced August 27, includes an initial project with Singapore-based MuseCell Innovations Pte. Ltd., with the possibility of additional ventures to follow. Under the deal, Celularity will establish manufacturing capability for Dezawa MuseCells at its 147,215-square-foot Florham Park site.
Muse cells are a naturally occurring, stress-enduring cell population discovered by Dr. Mari Dezawa. According to the companies’ announcement, the platform pairs qualified starting materials with the licensed Dezawa Method and MuseCell Innovations’ product specifications covering identity, purity, viability, potency, traceability and lot release.
If the initial project succeeds, Celularity and MuseCell Innovations intend to broaden the partnership to include additional products and programs. That expansion could push Celularity’s aggregate purchases from the collaboration past $300 million over the next five years, and could bring more than 200 high-tech jobs to the Florham Park site spanning biomanufacturing, quality control, engineering and support roles.
Celularity founder, chairman and chief executive officer Dr. Robert Hariri said the partnership shows how the manufacturing infrastructure and cellular expertise the company has built can support outside technologies as well as its own. “We look forward to expanding U.S. manufacturing for the Dezawa MuseCell platform,” Hariri said.
Dr. Dominik Duscher, chief executive officer and president of MuseCell Innovations, said Celularity offers the infrastructure and technical depth needed to establish U.S. manufacturing using qualified bone marrow, adipose and perinatal sources.
Governor Mikie Sherrill highlighted the announcement on social media, noting she first visited Celularity in 2022 and pointing to the company’s growth from a New Jersey startup into a publicly traded company as a sign of the strength of the state’s innovation economy. She added that as advanced biomanufacturing continues to grow, “New Jersey is open for business.”
The announcement comes as New Jersey has faced scrutiny over a string of corporate relocations and downsizings. A recent analysis examining eight companies that either scaled back New Jersey operations or expanded and relocated elsewhere estimated those decisions cost the state more than 7,200 jobs.
