Grant to support development of novel manufacturing system to assist in production of innovative cancer treatments
Oxford, UK, 05 December 2017 – Oxford MEStar, in collaboration with the Cell and Gene Therapy (CGT) Catapult and AK (Suzhou) Biomedical, today announced it has been awarded a share of a £1 million grant from the Innovate UK-Jiangsu Industrial Challenge Programme, a project set up by Innovate UK and Jiangsu Science and Technology Department to stimulate economic growth, and foster ties between China and the UK. Through the grant, Oxford MEStar, CGT Catapult, a UK independent centre of excellence to bridge the gap between scientific research and full-scale commercialisation of the UK cell and gene therapy industry, and AK (Suzhou) Biomedical, a Chinese biotech firm specialising in products and services for clinical applications aim to support the development of a novel manufacturing system intended to dramatically reduce the cost of production of CAR-T therapy, a highly promising cancer treatment.
CAR-T therapies are novel immunotherapy treatments derived from a patient’s own T-cells and genetically modified to combat cancer. Although highly innovative, CAR-T therapies can cost up to $500,000 per treatment, due to reasons including the complex development and manufacture of these specialised cells, which subsequently could place strain on modern healthcare budgets and systems.
Focusing on addressing this issue, the proposed system will reduce costs by utilising automation, to cut down on labour costs, and ensure maximum efficiency and quality whilst maintaining high GMP standards. Existing systems currently suffer from high equipment and consumables costs, and heightened failure rate due to ‘open’ processes.
Prof Zhanfeng Cui, the founder of Oxford MEStar, commented “Our relationship with the Chinese partner AK (Suzhou) Biomedical has already led to the development of an automated cell expansion system for cell therapy applications. This new grant strengthens our core engineering technology development and widens our collaboration with our UK partner CGT Catapult working together with AK (Suzhou) Biomedical in developing a leading cost-effective manufacturing system beneficial to patients from the UK, China and worldwide.”
“This project represents a significant milestone in being our first deal with a Chinese organisation,” said Keith Thompson, CEO of CGT Catapult, “It is also an excellent opportunity for us to deploy our expertise in manufacturing automation. CAR-T therapies have shown remarkable results in the clinic but at great cost, we hope that with this novel manufacturing system we can reduce the cost of these treatments and make this ground-breaking therapy more accessible to patients.”
The three partners in the project will bring together their expertise and capabilities to progress the development of a scalable manufacturing solution. Oxford MEStar, a spin-out from Oxford University, will be the industrial lead in the UK and will develop the prototype of the modular bioreactor system. AK (Suzhou) Biomedical, will be the industrial lead in China and will be responsible for validating the system in a GMP environment and carrying out pre-production prototyping. CGT Catapult will provide expert design and testing of the system through exemplar immunotherapy processes, and further support development and evaluation as a scalable solution.
About Oxford MEStar
Oxford MEStar Limited is a spin-out company from the Institute of Biomedical Engineering of Oxford University specializing in hardware systems for the regenerative medicine and cell therapy industry. The company is focused on a) developing automation technologies; b) offering bioengineering solutions to clients. Oxford MEStar is aiming to become the UK leading bioengineering SME to provide cost-effective solutions and products serving in regenerative and cell therapy sectors. For more information please visit www.oxford-mestar.com
About the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult
The Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult was established as an independent centre of excellence to advance the growth of the UK cell and gene therapy industry, by bridging the gap between scientific research and full-scale commercialisation. With more than 120 employees focusing on cell and gene therapy technologies, it works with partners in academia and industry to ensure these life-changing therapies can be developed for use in health services throughout the world. It offers leading-edge capability, technology and innovation to enable companies to take products into clinical trials and provide clinical, process development, manufacturing, regulatory, health economics and market access expertise. Its aim is to make the UK the most compelling and logical choice for UK and international partners to develop and commercialise these advanced therapies. The Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult works with Innovate UK. For more information please visit ct.catapult.org.uk or visit http://www.gov.uk/innovate-uk.
About AK Biomedical
AK (Suzhou) Biomedical is a cell therapy and regenerative medicine company providing high-quality products and services relating to the clinical application of human cells. AK focuses on the processing and amplification of primary cells in autologous cells therapy, such as, musculoskeletal tissue repair, connective tissue regeneration and cell based immunotherapies. The company’s core competencies include human cell separation, purification, expansion, storage, formulation and transportation. AK adopts the highest standards of Good Manufacture Practice (GMP) and quality control systems to meet the strict regulations and requirements of the Chinese Food and Drug Administration (CFDA), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the European Medicines Agency (EMA). For more information please visit http://en.akbiomedical.com/index.html
For further information please contact:
Zoe Li: +44 (0)1865 784436 /Zoe.li@oxford-mestar.com
