BioCision, LLC To Develop Customized Thawstar Automated Cell Thawing System For Celgene Cellular Therapeutics

Companies to collaborate on standardizing and de-risking cell thawing process for a Phase 2 cell therapy for the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers.

SAN RAFAEL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BioCision, LLC, a leader in advanced technology to improve biological sample handling and standardization, today announced that it will collaborate with Celgene Cellular Therapeutics (CCT) (a subsidiary of Celgene Corporation), to accelerate the development of a cell thawing solution based on BioCision’s proprietary ThawSTAR™ technology for the 6 mL injectable vial that CCT has chosen to store PDA-002, a cryopreserved, allogeneic cell therapy currently in clinical development to treat diabetic foot ulcers in patients with peripheral arterial disease.

Conventional thawing methods, including swirling vials in warm water baths or rolling vials between hands can result in variable cell viabilities and can increase contamination concerns. BioCision’s ThawSTAR system utilizes a patent pending adaptive sensing technology that incorporates algorithms to deliver a consistent and reproducible thaw profile and endpoint to each vial, thus providing a standardized thawing process, eliminating variability that could have a detrimental effect on the safety and efficacy of the cell therapy, and providing a significant reduction in cell handling risk in a clinical setting.

Dr. Rolf O. Ehrhardt, CEO of BioCision, said, “As more cell therapies reach late stage clinical trials and commercialization, the need to standardize and de-risk cell handling, including thawing, is becoming critical. The ThawSTAR system has been demonstrated to significantly improve cell viability and recovery in comparison to conventional methods, and may ultimately enhance the consistency of therapeutic outcomes.”

The new ThawSTAR automated cell thawing system that will be developed as a result of this collaboration is an expansion of BioCision’s technology platform and will be made available commercially. BioCision is also developing other vial formats to address the needs of the larger cell therapy market.

About BioCision, LLC

BioCision is a life science research and development company that develops products and solutions for process standardization throughout the healthcare industry through the application of advanced thermal regulation principles and technologies. The intuitive design and interconnectivity of BioCision products enables researchers, clinicians and manufacturers to protect the integrity of temperature-sensitive therapeutics, biological samples, and biomaterials. By addressing temperature stability, BioCision strives to improve the success of therapeutic discovery and development and enable effective care delivery.

For more information visit www.biocision.com, or visit the BioCision blog for news and expert insight at http://blog.biocision.com/.