Excellos Inc., a cell therapy CDMO, partnered with Vitalant, a nonprofit blood and biotherapies healthcare organization, which includes an investment by Vitalant, for cell sourcing, testing, and lab services. It also includes collaboration with the Vitalant Innovation Center, which provides research and translational development expertise for new products and services.

The strategic partnership is focused on supporting organizations to develop and deliver new cell therapies and addresses major challenges in bringing therapies to patients. Cell therapy development teams will now have access to larger and better geographically distributed donors that are well-characterized for aspects including metabolic and effector function profiles. This improves therapeutic potency and reduces manufacturing costs, while reducing clinical response variability.

David Wellis, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Excellos, said, “This is a great opportunity for Excellos to extend its collection network across the country and to collaborate with Vitalant in several areas, including testing services and research and development at their state-of-the-art Innovation Center. Additionally, Vitalant’s investment brings financial capital to accelerate the launch of new Excellos products and services, including donor characterization through our Excellos 360 platform.”

“Through our partnership with Excellos and other innovators, Vitalant can leverage our unique capabilities and expertise to transform healthcare,” said Becky Cap, Vitalant’s Senior Vice President of Biotherapies. “We look forward to working with Excellos to help develop new technologies and therapies that improve patient access and outcomes.”