Adaptimmune Therapeutics, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the use of T-cell therapy to treat cancer, has announced plans to expand its R&D operation into a major new purpose-built facility at Milton Park, Oxfordshire, U.K.

Construction of Adaptimmune’s 67,000-square-foot building already is underway following a traditional groundbreaking ceremony. The flagship facility will provide laboratory space with associated offices, meeting rooms and a cafe area to accommodate a team of around 200 R&D specialists.

The new building is designed to support the company’s continuing growth of its R&D operation and is scheduled for delivery in late 2016.

Following its foundation in the U.K., Adaptimmune launched its U.S. operation in 2011 after a longstanding research collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania. The company has rapidly expanded its clinical programs and currently is running five phase I/II trials in multiple cancers across the U.S. targeting the NY-ESO-1 cancer antigen in both solid and hematologic cancers with promising early results. Adaptimmune also has an IND open with its second therapeutic candidate, MAGE-A10, and a third candidate in planning for IND submission in 2016.