Orgenesis Announces Collaboration Between Secant Group And Atvio Biotech, A Wholly Owned Subsidiary Of Masthercell Global, To Develop And Commercialize Scaffold Technologies For Advanced Cell Therapies

GERMANTOWN, Md. — July 30, 2018 — Orgenesis Inc. — a manufacturer, service provider and developer of advanced cell therapies — today announced that Atvio Biotech Ltd., which is wholly-owned by Orgenesis’ Masthercell Global subsidiary, and Secant Group are collaborating to develop and commercialize biodegradable and injectable scaffold technologies for use in Orgenesis’ advanced cell therapies.

Under the agreement, Secant Group is to engineer and prototype 3-D scaffolds based on novel biomaterials and technologies involving bioresorbable polymer microparticles, while Atvio Biotech will provide expertise in cell coatings, cell production, process development and support services.  The collaboration will be financed in part through a $1.8 million grant from the Israel-U.S. Binational Industrial R&D (BIRD) Foundation, as well as additional funding provided by Orgenesis and Secant Group.  Under the agreement, Orgenesis is authorized to utilize the jointly developed technology for its autologous cell therapy platform, including its Autologous Insulin Producing (AIP) cell technology for patients with Type 1 Diabetes, acute pancreatitis and other insulin deficient diseases.

Vered Caplan, CEO of Orgenesis, commented: “We are encouraged by the initial progress from the collaboration between Atvio Biotech and Secant Group. Secant brings unique expertise in advanced biomaterials and scaffold structures. Their best-in-class scaffold technology is designed to minimize stress for the cells, thereby potentially enhancing yields and dramatically shortening cell culturing time. We look forward to leveraging this technology within our own therapeutic products. This agreement is closely aligned with our broader strategy to partner and in-license best-in-class technologies to advance our cell therapy platform.”

Jeff Robertson, president, Secant Group, commented: “Secant Group has been at the forefront of the industry using biomaterials in the field of regenerative medicine through the development of scaffold technologies. We are excited to bring our technologies forward in this project. Biomaterials show significant promise as vehicles for cell transplantation because of their potential to modulate the microenvironment of the cells. We believe that their use in 3D scaffolding of various configurations is gaining substantial acceptance.”

Posted July 30, 2018

Source: Orgenesis Inc.

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