Orgenesis, a global biotech company working on cell and gene therapies, has entered into a collaboration agreement with Savicell Diagnostics based on the company’s patented ImmunoBiopsy immunometabolism platform. The collaboration aims to develop and validate diagnostic kits for enhanced quality control (QC) and monitoring purposes to be used by Orgenesis in manufacturing and processing of its cell and gene therapies; in addition to developing assays to enhance the potency of cell and gene therapies for use within its point-of-care platform, and also developing companion diagnostics for enhanced patient targeting of CGT.
Under the agreement, Orgenesis will receive worldwide exclusive rights to use and sell the kits produced by Savicell, which will include Orgenesis’ point of care network of hospitals, clinics and institutions for QC and monitoring of manufacturing and processing of autologous immune cells manipulated by CGT.
Orgenesis intends to leverage this technology to measure the efficacy of various CGTs, as well as adaptations to enhance the potency of therapies through the selection and propagation of the highly potent cells during the manufacturing process. The initial QC kit will be utilised for treatments targeting lung cancer, however, the parties plan to expand the platform to include additional cancer types and other diseases.
An important recent discovery, according to the companies, is immune system cells alter their energy generation in order to obtain an effector function. T cells change their pathways to create metabolic energy (ATP molecules) to enable them to potentially kill cancer. T cells, as a pre-step to their activation state, shift pathways to create metabolic energy, moving from the oxidative phosphorylation cycle into a glycolysis cycle. This shift into the glycolysis cycle enables faster production of energy for immediate utilisation than in other cycles.
Vered Caplan, CEO of Orgenesis, said “Savicell’s ImmunoBiopsy platform has shown promise in early detection of cancer. We look forward to leveraging this technology in a number of key areas within our POCare platform.”
Giora Davidovits, CEO of Savicell, said: “We are excited to partner with Orgenesis to adapt our ImmunoBiopsy platform for ensuring quality control, as well as measuring the potential efficacy of various therapeutic and manufacturing approaches to cell and gene therapies.”
