The Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult, the UK organisation dedicated to the growth of the UK cell and gene therapy industry by bridging the gap between scientific research and commercialisation, and Asymptote Ltd. a leading specialist in cryopreservation, announced a licencing agreement for a novel point-of-care thawing system for cell-based therapies that they developed in collaboration.

The Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult will licence all foreground IP generated by this collaboration to Asymptote. As a result, Asymptote will be able to commercialise the product to the wider international cell therapy market.

A family of vial and bag thawing devices have been developed over the last 12 months by both the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult and Asymptote. They have been designed to optimise the thawing process and simplify the delivery of cell therapies to patients to address the significant challenges of delivery at the point-of-care.

“The development and licence deal between the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult and Asymptote will enable commercialisation of a cellular thawing system that will bring advanced cell-based therapies closer to patient accessibility” said Keith Thompson, CEO, the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult. “This sort of collaboration project, where we can help innovative companies develop technology so that it’s ready for commercialisation, is exactly what the Catapult is set up for.”

“The delivery of cryogenically preserved cell-based therapies presents unique challenges to the industry, including both manufacturers and clinicians,” said Dr John Morris, CEO, Asymptote. “We are now preparing for commercial launch of the new devices with the first in the family expected to be on the market before the end of the year. We see this technology as a big step forwards for the cell and gene therapy industry as it fills in an important gap in the cryochain, helping to guarantee cell-based therapies reach patients in perfect condition for an effective treatment.”

Background on standard method for thawing of cell based therapies
Cell-based therapies are currently generally produced and cryopreserved under Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) conditions. Thawing of these cryopreserved GMP products at clinical sites is usually done in standard laboratory water-baths, leading to an increase in inconsistencies between treatments, poor performances in clinical trials or poor efficacy of treatment.