Cesca Licenses CAR-T Cellular Processing Services to China’s Boyalife Group

Cesca Therapeutics, a company specializing in automated cell processing and autologous cell-based therapies, has signed a license agreement through its subsidiary, ThermoGenesis, with IncoCell Tianjin, a wholly-owned subsidiary of China-based Boyalife Group, for chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T-related and other cellular processing contract development and manufacturing services, the company announced in a March 14, 2018 press release.

Under the agreement, ThermoGenesis has granted IncoCell an exclusive license to purchase and use its X-Series cellular processing research devices, consumables, and kits for contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) operations in certain Asia-Pacific countries. In exchange, ThermoGenesis is entitled to a percentage of IncoCell’s gross contract development revenues, including any potential upfront payments, future milestones, or royalty payments.

“China is among the leading markets for CAR-T developers, and, together with the [United States], represents the two countries with the highest number of ongoing CAR-T clinical trials,” said Dr. Chris Xu, CEO of Cesca, in a company press release. “This agreement with IncoCell signifies our first CDMO collaboration and is consistent with our goal of expanding beyond off-the-shelf cellular processing solutions into higher-value contract manufacturing and development services. Moving forward, we plan to pursue additional CDMO collaborations in selected markets while executing global distribution and other strategic partnering agreements for our highly differentiated X-Series line of products.”    

The license agreement covers the People’s Republic of China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and India.

Source: Cesca Therapeutics