CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 25, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rubius Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq:RUBY), a biotechnology company pioneering the development of a new class of ready-to-use cellular therapies, today announced that it has signed a purchase and sale agreement for the acquisition of a 135,000-square foot manufacturing facility located in Smithfield, Rhode Island. The company plans to invest up to $95 million through 2020, and up to $155 million in total over a five-plus year period, and it expects to hire approximately 150 people to be employed at the facility, pending the progression of its planned, staged investments. The company anticipates the purchase will close in the third quarter of 2018.

“The acquisition of the Rhode Island manufacturing facility is a critical step toward making the promise of Red Cell Therapeutics a reality,” said Pablo J. Cagnoni, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Rubius. “We believe that by owning our manufacturing capabilities and controlling our supply chain we will be prepared to scale up manufacturing of clinical and potentially commercial supply of our novel therapies. In addition, we look forward to our continued partnership with Governor Raimondo and the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation as we build a sustainable high-performing team from the talent pool in the Providence region that will allow us to work towards bringing important new medicines to patients.”

The new facility will help the company scale its manufacturing process in order to produce large quantities of Red Cell Therapeutic product candidates and lentiviral vectors needed to encode biotherapeutic proteins inside or on the surface of each Red Cell Therapeutic. The facility will be customized to contain multiple manufacturing suites, which will enable Rubius to conduct its manufacturing operations in a cGMP compliant manner for clinical supply and, if approved, for the commercial supply of RCT product candidates. The first phase of the renovations is expected to be completed in approximately 24 months.

“Rubius’ investment in Rhode Island and our highly-skilled workforce is more great news for our state,” said Rhode Island Governor Gina M. Raimondo. “Creating more jobs to support a vibrant economy and ensuring opportunity for all Rhode Islanders continues to be my top priority. We are excited to welcome Rubius to Rhode Island’s growing life sciences ecosystem.”

About Rubius Therapeutics
Rubius Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company pioneering the development of a new class of medicines called Red Cell Therapeutics™. The Company’s proprietary RED PLATFORM™ was designed to genetically engineer and culture Red Cell Therapeutics™ that are selective, potent and ready-to-use cellular therapies for the potential treatment of several diseases across multiple therapeutic areas. Rubius’ initial focus is to advance RCT™ product candidates for the treatment of rare diseases, cancer and autoimmune diseases by leveraging three distinct therapeutic modalities — cellular shielding, potent cell-cell interaction and tolerance induction. For more information, visit www.rubiustx.com or follow us on Twitter.

Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, including, without limitation, statements regarding the anticipated purchase, renovation and operation of the manufacturing facility for which we have entered into a purchase and sale agreement, the therapeutic potential of our Red Cell Therapeutics and our strategy, business plans and focus. The words “may,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “project,” “potential,” “continue,” “target” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Any forward-looking statements in this press release are based on management’s current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and important factors that may cause actual events or results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements contained in this press release, including, without limitation, those risks and uncertainties related to the acquisition, renovation and operation of the manufacturing facility for which we have entered into a purchase and sale agreement, the development of our Red Cell Therapeutic product candidates and their therapeutic potential, our ability to successfully operate a manufacturing facility and other risks identified in our SEC filings, including our Prospectus filed with the SEC on July 18, 2018, as amended, and subsequent filings with the SEC. We caution you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. We disclaim any obligation to publicly update or revise any such statements to reflect any change in expectations or in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements may be based, or that may affect the likelihood that actual results will differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release represent our views only as of the date hereof and should not be relied upon as representing its views as of any subsequent date. We explicitly disclaim any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

Media Contact:
Dan Budwick
1AB, Inc.
+1 (973) 271-6085
dan@1abmedia.com

Investor Contact:
Lori Melançon
Vice President, Corporate Communications and Investor Relations
+1 (617) 229-6122
lori.melancon@rubiustx.com