Cell preservation prosperity: BioLife and Cryoport up on personalised meds

20-Jan-2017 - Last updated on 20-Jan-2017 at 12:32 GMT

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With increased interest in cell and gene therapies, BioLife Solutons has reported a 28% year-on-year growth in sales of biopreservation media, while Cryoport has struck another logistics deal.

“2016 was another strong year of execution that broadened the biopreservation media franchise we have built in the regenerative medicine market,” Mike Rice, CEO of BioLife, said about his company’s performance.

The firm, which offers media and logistics services for cell-based therapy developers, boasted preliminary 2016 media sales of $8.2m, up 28% on the previous year.

“BioLife’s proprietary, clinical grade biopreservation media products, CryoStor and HypoThermosol, are now embedded in 240 customer validations and clinical trials, an increase of 40 or 20% since the end of 2015,” the firm stated.

“The Company’s products are part of the cell manufacturing and distribution processes in a majority of the ongoing CAR and other T cell clinical trials targeting blood cancers and solid tumors.”

In the past 12 months, the firm has 65 new customers in the regenerative medicine market segment and inked long-term supply agreements with Kite Pharma, Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, and TissueGene.

And looking into 2017, the firm expects 20-25% growth in its biopreservation media based on an increasing number of cell and tissue based products going through clinical development.

Cryoport and ProMab

Meanwhile, cryogenic logistics company Cryoport has announced its second deal in as many weeks to support a T Cell manufacturer.

The firm will provide logistics services for ProMab Biotechnologies' preclinical chimeric-antigen receptors (CARs), and specifically CAR-redirected T-cells (CAR-T) candidates being produced from ProMab’s manufacturing facility in in China.

“Cryoport has supported ProMab Biotechnologies' antibody reagent business since 2012 and we are proud to have the opportunity to expand our relationship with ProMab as it extends its product and service offerings to include CAR T-cell therapy engineering,” said Cryoport CEO Jerrell Shelton.

“Our proven cryogenic logistics solutions for life sciences companies will address the complex requirements ProMab faces as it transports valuable, temperature-sensitive CAR T-cell materials to and within China.”

Earlier this month, the firm inked a deal to support the delivery of Gradalis’ autologous cell therapies to various cancer trial sites across the US.