Cell therapy weekly: Theragent to produce master stem cell bank for Accelerated Biosciences
This week: TTP announces the launch of a spin-out company, Cellular Origins, to facilitate cost-effective manufacturing of cell and gene therapies, IASO Bio receives nearly $75 million in Series C1 funding and Theragent has secured a contract with Accelerated Biosciences to produce a novel stem cell bank.
The news highlights:
- TTP announces the launch of Cellular Origins
- IASO Bio earns nearly $75 million in Series C1 funding
- Theragent to produce stem cell bank for Accelerated Biosciences
TTP announces the launch of Cellular Origins
The Technology Partnership (TTP plc; Melbourn, UK) is an independent technology and product development company who have launched a spin-out company called Cellular Origins to facilitate the scalable and cost-effective manufacture of cell and gene therapies.
The cell and gene therapy market has expanded over recent years; however, manufacturers have struggled to meet this increased demand. By 2030, the cell and gene therapy market is predicted to have a market value of >$90 billion.
Cellular Origins’ proprietary technology addresses barriers to manufacturing advanced therapies in late-stage development with an adaptable automated sterile fluidic end-to-end interconnection, which can be integrated into existing and future bioprocess equipment to enable full automation throughout a manufacturing workflow. This technology means commercial manufacturing can be achieved without process change.
“We are extremely pleased to officially announce the launch of Cellular Origins. Cell and gene therapies are creating a therapeutic revolution that will change lives, but without a revolution in manufacturing, patients will not be able to access these therapies,” commented Edwin Stone, the CEO of Cellular Origins. “Cellular Origins’ goal is to offer customers access to large-scale, efficient, and affordable production of next-generation therapies, but also to do so without limiting manufacturer’s choice of instrumentation, or requiring changes to existing workflows.”
IASO Bio earns nearly $75 million in Series C1 funding
IASO Biotherapeutics (IASO Bio; CA, USA) has raised nearly $75 million in Series C1 funding. IASO Bio is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company specializing in novel cell therapies and antibody products for oncology and autoimmune disease. In this investment round, IOSA Bio received funding from 11 investment organizations. This will be used to support research and development into the company’s pipeline products and the commercial launch of its core product, Equecabtagene Autoleucel, a fully human B-cell maturation antigen CAR-T cell injection to treat neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder. IASO Bio is developing a clinical-stage pipeline of multiple autologous and allogenic CAR-T and biologics product candidates.
Alan Fu, IASO Bio’s CFO, said: “During the past year, our company has achieved numerous milestones and is on the transition to commercialization. The new funding will help accelerate development and commercialization of innovative drugs, enable us to keep working toward our vision of ‘bringing hope to patients in China and around the world’.
Theragent to produce stem-cell bank for Accelerated Biosciences
Theragent (CA, USA) has secured a novel stem-cell bank production contract with regenerative medicine innovator Accelerated Biosciences (CA, USA). Theragent will produce the cGMP-grade master cell bank for Accelerated Biosciences’ human trophoblast stem cells (hTSCs), which will be available for purchase or license through Accelerated Biosciences.
hTSCs are pluripotent and immune-privileged stem cells and have a unique genetic identity, which is not associated with any person or embryo, making them ideal starting materials for the manufacture of next-generation advanced therapies.
The hTSC GMP master cell bank will be available to cell and gene therapy manufacturers in the first quarter of 2023.
“We look forward to working with Accelerated Biosciences and producing this critical master cell bank,” commented Theragent COO, Jeff Masten. “Bringing together our cell-based know-how and cGMP quality system to deliver a fully characterized MCB will allow cell therapy developers to harness this novel pluripotent platform and advance new therapies for patients in need.”
Yuta Lee, CEO of Accelerated Biosciences, stated: “We recognized early on that there is an unmet need for a clinical-grade, pluripotent stem cell platform derived from an ethical source with complete regulatory compliance documentation. To meet this need, we aim to make our patented hTSC source readily available to industry partners in order to accelerate cures to market. Key to this is the production of the cGMP-grade master cell bank, and Theragent is the ideal partner for us in this regard.”
