Orgenesis, RevaTis Partner on Cell Therapy Production

Orgenesis, a Germantown, MD-based biotech company specializing in cell and gene therapy delivery, has formed a joint venture agreement with RevaTis, a spin-off from Liege University, Belgium, specializing in advanced regenerative medicine and cell therapy, to advance the development of autologous therapies, Orgenesis announced in an April 8, 2020 press release.

The goal of the joint venture is to build upon RevaTis’ initial success in animals to develop therapies and advance human trials by leveraging Orgenesis’s technical, clinical, and regulatory expertise as well as Orgenesis’ point-of-care (POCare) platform technologies. These technologies include automated/closed-systems, 3D printing, and bioreactor technologies. The joint venture will also be dedicated to developing RevaTis' technology in humans.

The joint venture includes in-licensed therapies through Orgenesis’s partners, which comprise muscle-derived mesenchymal stem cells (mdMSC) as a source of exosomes and other cellular products. RevaTis has developed a patented technique to obtain mdMSCs through a minimally invasive muscle micro-biopsy and produce mdMSCs using a turnkey isolator system, the company said in its press release.

“We are delighted to partner with Orgenesis, as we seek to advance a variety of promising cell therapies built around our proprietary processes to collect and produce mdMSCs. We selected Orgenesis as a result of their extensive experience in the field of autologous cell therapies, including technical, clinical, and regulatory expertise. We expect that this will be valuable as we aim to advance our platform through commercialization. Importantly, Orgenesis’s unique POCare Platform provides a global network of hospitals and research institutes through which we can conduct clinical trials, with a goal to develop life-saving therapies,” said Didier Serteyn, PhD, CEO of RevaTis, in the press release.

“RevaTis’s technologies are highly differentiated and ideally suited for our Cell & Gene Biotech Platform. We believe that this exclusive partnership with RevaTis further validates the significant value proposition of the Orgenesis vertically integrated business model. This model allows us to streamline the entire process of therapeutic development and delivery of cell therapies within the patient care setting through our Cell & Gene Biotech Platform. In addition, RevaTis has existing partnerships with research institutions in the [United States], the Middle East, and India that will be highly complementary to our own POCare Network. We look forward to utilizing the Orgenesis Cell & Gene Biotech Platform with a goal to lower the costs and accelerate the timeline of bringing these innovative therapies through the clinic and potentially into commercialization,” added Vered Caplan, CEO of Orgenesis, in the press release.

Source: Orgenesis