Breaking News, Collaborations & Alliances

panCELLa, CCRM Collaborate to Benefit Academia and Industry

New iPSC master cell banks to accelerate development of novel cell therapies

Toronto-based panCELLa and CCRM have executed a collaboration agreement using novel technology to generate commercial-use and clinical-grade iPSC lines which will be made available to academia and industry to enable the development of new therapies.
 
“panCELLa is an innovative company and a key partner in our local ecosystem. We’re pleased to support their efforts to develop novel engineered cell lines that will enable multiple indications representing significant unmet needs,” said Michael May, president and chief executive officer, CCRM. “This collaboration will also support other companies in our network, as CCRM and panCELLa will work together to make these high-quality cGMP lines available to the global biotechnology community.”
 
panCELLa, an early stage biotechnology company spun out of research conducted at the Sinai Health System in Toronto, will produce novel versions of the lines that are engineered for safety, and the ability to evade the immune system. CCRM is engaged in developing and commercializing regenerative medicine-based technologies and cell and gene therapies, and will develop master cell banks in the Centre for Cell and Vector Production (CCVP), a cGMP facility that CCRM operates with the University Health Network. panCELLa and CCRM will both have the option to license these lines out to academic and industry partners interested in working with clinical grade iPSCs.
 
Andras Nagy, co-founder, panCELLa, said, “The long-standing support and commitment of CCRM to our technology was a critical component to our success in raising funds. This has enabled panCELLa to advance its platforms, making them more widely available to the regenerative medicine market. We look forward to continuing this fruitful relationship.”
 
Bringing together the expertise of both parties with a state-of-the-art processing facility will make this work possible. CCVP is the largest cGMP facility in Toronto focused exclusively on manufacturing cells and viral vectors for Phase I/II clinical trials. With 10 class B clean rooms, it is designed to be Health Canada, USFDA and EMA compliant.

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