Cell and gene therapies face a trio of challenges: increasing access, speeding up the process, and reducing the cost. To address those issues, Orgenesis is working with the University of California, Davis (UC Davis), to expand the availability of Orgenesis Mobile Processing Units and Labs (OMPULs) across California.
“These units allow the closed production of cellular therapies in a streamlined manner,” says Vered Caplan, Orgenesis CEO. “They are mobile production units about the size of a shipping container.” Consequently, these OMPULs can be located and relocated easily, and a customer pays a per-batch fee. Caplan describes a batch as “taking a patient’s cells, doing the engineering, packaging, and sending the product back to that same patient.”
With these OMPULs, a healthcare provider or research group can quickly increase capacity, without the risk of building a new facility. “We allow flexibility in supply and reduce the complexity and the logistics, which reduces the cost,” Caplan explains.
Orgenesis has already been working with UC Davis. “We implement everything next to leading research centers, because we work together,” Caplan says. “We’re not competitive with hospital cleanrooms, but we expand on them, such as helping with production for clinical trials.”
Caplan expects to expand OMPULs to other universities in California. “It’s really a very important place for cell and gene therapy,” she says. “There’s a need out there for patients, clinicians, and researchers.”
