Orgenesis, U of California, Davis Partner for CGT Mobile Processing Units and Labs

Orgenesis Inc., a global biotech company working to unlock the full potential of cell and gene therapies (CGT) at the point of care, entered into an agreement with the University of California, Davis (UC Davis), to roll out Orgenesis’ mobile processing units and labs (OMPULs) at medical or academic institutions within the University of California system.

The partnership sets out a staged approach through which Orgenesis will install and operate OMPULs, enabling their point-of-care (POCare) service platform to manufacture therapeutics at hospitals throughout California, empowering onsite production for clinical trials like the cell and gene therapies in development at UC Davis Health’s Alpha Stem Cell Clinic.

The first OMPUL will be established and validated at UC Davis, followed by a decentralized model of placement to commercialize, and install OMPULs at other healthcare sites within California. These units will enable point-of-care treatment via the development and manufacture of cell and gene therapies from Orgenesis, its partners, and UC Davis’ partners, subject to further agreements.

“We believe that this partnership between Orgenesis, UC Davis, and the University of California system will become a blueprint for decentralizing the development and manufacturing of CGTs, while demonstrating the benefits of our OMPUL design for the US and international healthcare markets,” said Vered Caplan, CEO of Orgenesis. “Our shared goal is the widespread development of lifesaving CGTs for patients with a range of conditions, at a cost that can be supported by payers and the wider society as a whole.”

The POCare Network enables hospitals to expand their capacity to supply cell therapies at the point-of-care site for the treatment of patients. The first collaboration involved scaling up and integrating UC Davis’ lentiviral vector process for localized development and processing of cell and gene therapies for treating patients.

The latest agreement follows an $8 million grant renewal from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) in December 2022 for UC Davis Health’s Alpha Stem Cell Clinic. The grant enables the clinic to expand its clinical trials operation and advance toward onsite manufacturing of therapies.