CARLSBAD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- GPB Scientific, Inc., a developer of transformative cell processing technology for next generation cell and gene therapies, today announced raising an additional $18 million in capital as part of a previously announced financing, including commitments from existing investors Vensana Capital and Amgen Ventures, and from a new undisclosed healthcare investor. This financing will support expanded placements of GPB’s Curate™ Cell Processing System into partner facilities to enable optimized development and manufacturing in CAR-T and TCR programs, as well as development of the platform’s utility in additional types of cell and gene therapy applications.

Conventional bioprocessing solutions for cell and gene therapies are challenged by cost, turnaround time, and scalability as well as suboptimal clinical performance characterized by limitations on cell therapy persistence, potency, adverse events, and applicability to various tumor types. The Curate system utilizes GPB’s proprietary Deterministic Cell Separation™ technology to deliver unmatched recovery, purity, and cell health impacting each of these challenges in bioprocessing for cell and gene therapies. In its first application, the Curate system has been optimized for T-cell isolation and associated downstream handling activities such as washing, concentrating, and exchanges in centralized and decentralized workflows. Additional applications will include optimization for stem cells and other cell types. Early data on GPB Scientific’s Deterministic Cell Separation process confirm substantial improvements in cost, target cell harvest time, and cell quality which enable the pursuit of advanced objectives across operational, clinical, and business-related areas of interest for therapy developers.

In parallel with GPB’s progress on the development of the Curate platform, Phillip Tagari, Amgen’s Vice President of Research, has joined GPB Scientific’s Board of Directors. He commented, “The Curate system is poised to be transformative for cell and gene therapies. As the industry works to implement reliable, efficient, and cost-effective systems for the global deployment of these breakthrough medical treatments, GPB has devised an elegant yet powerful solution for cell separation, washing and concentration. The broad potential of this innovation aligns with Amgen’s mission to partner with innovators in the fight against serious illness.”

“In order for cell and gene therapies to achieve their full potential, promising outcomes in hematological cancers that supported recent FDA approvals must be followed by improvements in manufacturing cost reductions, scalability and turnaround time for patients. Moreover, we hope to see continued advances in clinical impact against solid tumors and other indications for cell therapies. These advances will require creativity and execution from the drug developers, but in almost every case, can be aided by bioprocessing enhancements that yield more and healthier cells that are collected more efficiently,” said Justin Klein, M.D., co-founder and managing partner at Vensana Capital. “In a field where the process is the product, we believe GPB Scientific’s Curate Cell Processing System can confer a significant competitive advantage for cell and gene therapy companies and a much needed solution to scaling production to meet global demand.”

“We are pleased to see that our progress over the past year has been recognized by our existing partners and by new, important sponsors that share our vision for advancing therapies,” said Mike Grisham, CEO of GPB Scientific. “Our groundbreaking cell processing capabilities will enable next-generation medicines that are more consistently produced, at lower cost, for more patients and for additional conditions. We are proud to expand our efforts with this increased funding to deliver on our promise and to play our part in the enabling the development of new treatments for intractable disease.”

About GBP Scientific

GPB Scientific is a pioneering biomedical company realizing the promise of its Curate Cell Processing System. The Curate solution applies Deterministic Cell Separation (DCS™) technology, through a benchtop system and single-use cartridges that are currently optimized for T-cells. Designed with both manufacturing and clinical potential at the forefront, Curate™ delivers the scale and performance required to advance CAR-T and TCR applications beyond their limitations today. GPB works with leading biopharma and biotech companies, cancer centers, research institutes, and universities to advance the technology within and beyond this space, with future releases targeting additional cell types, use cases, disease states, and workflow paradigms.

Learn more at www.gpbscientific.com or contact inquiries@gpbscientific.com

About Vensana Capital

Vensana Capital is a venture capital and growth equity investment firm dedicated to partnering with entrepreneurs who seek to transform healthcare with breakthrough innovations in medical technology. Launched in 2019, Vensana is actively investing in late development and commercial stage companies across the medtech sector, including medical devices, diagnostics, drug delivery, digital health, and tech-enabled services. Vensana’s investment team has a history of successfully partnering with management teams behind industry-leading companies including Cameron Health, CardiAQ, Cartiva, CV Ingenuity, Epix Therapeutics, Inari Medical, Intact Vascular, Lutonix, Neuwave Medical, Sequent Medical, Topera, Ulthera, Veran Medical Technologies, and Vertiflex. Learn more at http://www.vensanacap.com

About Amgen Ventures

Established in 2004 as Amgen’s corporate venture capital arm, Amgen Ventures identifies and invests in emerging companies and technologies to advance promising new medicines and solutions to healthcare’s biggest challenges. Amgen Ventures has committed $625M to invest in biotechs focused on human therapeutics and drug discovery as well as MedTech, such as digital health platforms, data analytics, and value-based approaches.

Learn more at www.amgenbd.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210527005144/en/