Item 2. Properties
Item 2. Properties
Our corporate headquarters are located at the MediaWorks, 191 Wood Lane, White City, London W12 7FP, United Kingdom, where we lease 32,673 square feet of office and laboratory space. We entered the lease in November 2018 with a rent-free period at the beginning of the lease term until August 2020. In addition, in January 2026, we entered into an amendment to the lease agreement that extended the lease term into November 2035. The amendment provides certain rent-free and reduced rent periods as an incentive, and includes a break window during which the Company may terminate the lease early in exchange for payment of a pre-specified rent penalty.
Since September 2017, the Company has had an arrangement with Cell Therapy Catapult Limited to lease manufacturing suites at the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult manufacturing center in Stevenage, United Kingdom. In March 2023, the parties mutually agreed: (i) to terminate the lease relating to a leased manufacturing suite (known as Module 7) which originally had a lease term until February 2025, (ii) to extend the lease term of Module 3, one of the remaining manufacturing suites, from June 2023 to August 2024, and (iii) to extend the lease term of Module 4 a third manufacturing suite leased by the Company from September 2023 to August 2024. In addition, during the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company recognized a loss on disposal on leasehold improvements of $3.8 million arising from the lease termination of Module 7 on March 31, 2023. In August 2024, the lease term for Module 3 ended and the Company vacated the suite. In September 2024, the Company extended the lease term for Module 4 from August 2024 to December 2026; the Company currently uses this space for clinical manufacturing activities.
In February 2019, we entered into a lease for a manufacturing facility, consisting of approximately 39,558 square feet, in Enfield, U.K.. The lease term is 15 years, commencing in February 2019, with an option to terminate the lease in February 2029. We initially planned on initiating manufacturing activities at this facility in 2020; however, following a strategic review of our manufacturing plan, we chose to discontinue the fit-out of manufacturing capability at the Enfield facility in December 2019. In March 2021, one of the units was split in two separate units and we surrendered one of those units back to the landlord. In October 2021, we subleased a portion of the facility to third party tenants over lease terms from October 2021 to February 2029 and October 2026, respectively.
In September 2021, we entered into an arrangement for lease with Forge Life Sciences Nominee (“Landlord”), an affiliate of the Reef Group, for the design, construction and lease of a new 70,000 square foot commercial manufacturing facility in Stevenage, U.K.. Under this arrangement, the Landlord leased the facility, which is called “The Nucleus,” to us on agreed terms, upon satisfaction of certain conditions and completion of construction. Since November 2022, the Landlord handed over various portions of the facility to us until its practical completion on July 31, 2023. We were required to pay a pro-rated license fee for each portion of the facility which we had been granted access until the execution of the lease agreement. On September 19, 2023, we entered into a 20 year lease agreement with the Landlord for The Nucleus. On September 10, 2024, we and Landlord completed a variation of the lease for the manufacturing facility, related to additional works at the site. The Landlord will provide funding for certain specified improvements to the facility (the “Works”), which we committed to undertake on a mutually agreed schedule. Funding received for the Works done are deemed lease incentives in accordance with ASC Topic 842, Leases . The main Works will complete in March 2026. The deed of variation does not affect the lease term, which continues to run for 20 years from September 19, 2023. However, the deed of variation provides for enhanced rental payments according to a specified formula, commencing in December 2025. The Nucleus will have a GMP cell manufacturing capacity of approximately 2,000 batches a year. We anticipate that the size and layout of the Nucleus will allow for further increases in this capacity.
In September 2021, we also entered into a lease agreement for 2,762 square feet of laboratory and office space in Gaithersburg, Maryland, with a term until March 2024. In September 2023, we extended the original lease term to March 2027. In November 2025, we decommissioned the laboratory space but continue to use the office space.
We also lease shared office facilities in Weil Am Rhein, Germany, and Basel, Switzerland. The German lease runs through March 2027, and the Swiss lease through October 2027. Each lease will automatically renew if we do not provide notice of termination in accordance with the applicable terms.
We anticipate leasing additional office and manufacturing space as we add employees, and we believe that suitable additional or substitute space will be available as needed to accommodate any such expansion of our operations.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings
None.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosure
Not applicable
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Table of contents
PART II
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