Cryoport, Inc. and Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center, a non-profit community blood center serving more than 26 counties throughout the state of Texas, announced a strategic alliance to enhance the availability of high-quality, manufacture-ready cryopreserved allogeneic leukopaks for cellular therapy research, development, and treatment.
The launch of this partnership coincides with the grand opening of Cryoport's new state-of-the-art IntegriCell™ facility located at Cryoport's integrated supply chain campus in Houston, Texas.
This collaboration brings together GCRBC's Cellular Life Solutions ("CLS") program, which specializes in allogeneic donor recruitment, management, and apheresis collection, with Cryoport's industry-leading cryopreservation and biologistics expertise, creating a comprehensive and unified service offering for the life sciences community. GCRBC's CLS program is located less than two miles from Cryoport's Houston campus, enabling efficient local transport of collected leukopaks through Cryoport's Cryoshuttle® transportation service.
"Our partnership with Cryoport allows us to expand the capabilities of our Cellular Life Solutions program and further support the critical work being done with cell and gene therapies," said Nikhil Nayak, President and CEO of Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center. "Together, we are creating a streamlined process that strengthens the quality and consistency of cellular therapy products, ultimately accelerating the development of lifesaving treatments for patients."
"By working together with Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center, we are expanding the reach and impact of our cryopreservation services," said Jerrell Shelton, CEO of Cryoport. "This alliance enhances our ability to support the advancement and commercialization of cell therapies by providing the infrastructure for seamless, end-to-end delivery of critical cellular materials. Together, we are helping solve an industry problem and advance the development of the next generation of lifesaving cell therapies."