Two CAR-T cell therapies have been approved by the USA Food and Drug Administration (FDA) within the past year for blood cancers. Cellular therapies have been approved in the past such as Provenge for prostate cancer, the IP of which has changed hands a number of times and may yet prove commercially successful, however initially it struggled with price-point and logistics. Cell therapy manufacturing is costly and the recently approved cell therapies have a price point between USD $373,000 – $475,000. Increased manufacturing automation is one method to lower the price-point.
Cesca Therapeutics develops, commercializes and markets a range of automated technologies for CAR-T and other cell-based therapies. Its device division, ThermoGenesis, provides a full suite of solutions for automated clinical biobanking, point-of-care applications, and automation for immuno-oncology. The Company is developing an automated, functionally-closed CAR-TXpress™ platform that addresses the critical unmet need for better cellular manufacturing and controls (CMC) for the emerging CAR-T immunotherapy market. Cesca is an affiliated company of China-based Boyalife Group.
The company has announced the release of the X-Mini cell selection kit for the research market. The X-Mini isolates targeted cell subsets from blood and blood products, and is the first of several off-the-shelf kits that Cesca’s device subsidiary, ThermoGenesis, is developing for the research and development of CAR-T and other cell-based therapies.
“The release of X-Mini represents a significant milestone for Cesca, as it signifies the initial launch of our proprietary CAR-TXpress platform,” … “The X-Mini provides tangible advantages to research laboratories through a unique combination of attributes, including ease of use, high cell recovery and reproducibility, and minimal cost. During 2018, we look forward to the release of additional kits, including the X-Auto™ for non-commercial manufacturing of CAR-T cells as well as the X-Clini™, our first kit for Current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP)-compliant commercial manufacturing. The need for such products is strong, and we believe that our X-Series™ kits have the potential to revolutionize the rapidly evolving field of CAR-T therapy development and manufacturing.” – Chris Xu, chief executive officer of Cesca.
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