Cryoport, Inc. announced it has entered into a strategic relationship with BioLife Plasma Services, part of the global biopharmaceutical company Takeda, intended to provide consistent, high-quality cellular starting material for use in the manufacture of life-saving cellular therapies. By bringing together BioLife Plasma Services' proficiency in apheresis collection and their donation center infrastructure with Cryoport's life sciences' world-class capabilities and expertise in temperature-controlled supply chain solutions for the biopharmaceutical industry, the companies aim to establish a standardized, integrated apheresis collection, processing, and distribution solution for cellular therapies. Importantly, the new platform will leverage the cryo-processing expertise of Cell Matters, which Cryoport acquired in late July 2022.

Today, the availability of cellular therapy assets is limited by inflexibility in donation scheduling, a lack of standardization in collection and processing, and challenges inherent towards ensuring compliance with the Good Manufacturing Process (GMP) regulations. This new relationship, which will facilitate strict compliance with applicable GMP regulations, aims to shorten processing and logistics time and standardize collections, contracting, and equipment, in turn, enabling researchers and developers to accelerate cellular therapy programs. Increased access to apheresis, with efficient, scalable and reliable end-to-end processes will benefit not only donors and patients, but manufacturers and the providers of these life-saving therapies.