GERMANTOWN, Md., April 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Orgenesis Inc. (NASDAQ: ORGS), a developer, manufacturer and service provider of advanced cell therapies, today announced that it has entered into a collaboration agreement with Digilab Inc. to develop a live cell printing process and systems designed to automate the production of three-dimensional live cellular structures and tissues. Under the Agreement, Orgenesis will have the exclusive rights to co-develop the process and systems required for its therapeutic collaboration programs and to utilize, market and distribute the new cell printer systems and related products.
The systems will incorporate Digilab’s proprietary synQUAD liquid dispensing technology, offering both on-the-fly and drop-by-drop, non-contact, cell printing, while maintaining the viability of even the most delicate cells. This extremely flexible technology enables full control over critical dispensing parameters such as height of dispense and dispensing speed, which allows printing of both viscous solutions and fragile cells. The Digilab 3D printer is the premier 3D bio printer on the market today with a 95% or greater live cell viability.
The industrial process capability to be co-developed by Orgenesis and Digilab is designed to provide closed-loop systems and solutions for culturing and printing a variety of cells with the initial focus on liver and liver derived cells for autologous clinical applications for point-of-care processing services.
Vered Caplan, CEO of Orgenesis, stated, “We are excited to partner with Digilab to co-develop and market this next generation cell printer capability, which will have the ability to not only dispense cells, but for the first time, assemble living cells within a three-dimensional matrix. Digilab’s technology, which includes a valve-free fluid path, greatly reduces cell damage. Our goal is to utilize this technology that has the potential to transform the cell therapeutics service industry by automating the process for production of complex cell structures and full organs. In our preliminary trials with Digilab, we were able to print liver cells from our cell bank in the CellJet, proving the potential feasibility of this technology. This technology holds potential for very broad uses, including stem cell applications, customized cell arrays, cell-drug interaction studies, cell culturing, and tissue engineering. This latest collaboration further illustrates Orgenesis’ commitment to our partners to develop cutting-edge, next generation technologies enabling cell and gene therapy applications.”
John C. Moore, president and COO of Digilab, commented, “Orgenesis is an ideal partner given their extensive and complementary intellectual property, regional partnership network and broad commercialization capabilities. We look forward to working closely with Orgenesis to potentially accelerate the use of our state-of-the-art technology for development and processing services related to advanced cell and gene therapy products, with the joint goal of reducing manufacturing costs and bringing new, lifesaving technologies to market.”
About Orgenesis
Orgenesis is a biotechnology company specializing in the development, manufacturing and provision of technologies and services in the cell and gene therapy industry. The Company operates through two platforms: (i) a point-of-care (“POCare”) cell therapy platform (“PT”) and (ii) a Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (“CDMO”) platform conducted through its subsidiary, Masthercell Global. Through its PT business, the Company’s aim is to further the development of Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (“ATMPs”) through collaborations and in-licensing with other pre-clinical and clinical-stage biopharmaceutical companies and research and healthcare institutes to bring such ATMPs to patients. The Company out-licenses these ATMPs through regional partners to whom it also provides regulatory, pre-clinical and training services to support their activity in order to reach patients in a point-of-care hospital setting. Through the Company’s CDMO platform, it is focused on providing contract manufacturing and development services for biopharmaceutical companies. The CDMO platform operates through Masthercell Global, which currently consists of MaSTherCell in Belgium, Atvio in Israel and subsidiaries in South Korea and in the United States, each having unique know-how and expertise for manufacturing in a multitude of cell types. Additional information is available at: www.orgenesis.com.
Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements involve substantial uncertainties and risks and are based upon our current expectations, estimates and projections and reflect our beliefs and assumptions based upon information available to us at the date of this release. We caution readers that forward-looking statements are predictions based on our current expectations about future events. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Our actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the success of our reorganized CDMO operations, the success of our partnership with Great Point, our ability to achieve and maintain overall profitability, the sufficiency of working capital to realize our business plans, the development of our transdifferentiation technology as therapeutic treatment for diabetes which could, if successful, be a cure for Type 1 Diabetes; our technology not functioning as expected; our ability to retain key employees; our ability to satisfy the rigorous regulatory requirements for new procedures; our competitors developing better or cheaper alternatives to our products and the risks and uncertainties discussed under the heading "RISK FACTORS" in Item 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended November 30, 2018, and in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statement for any reason.
Contact for Orgenesis:
David Waldman
Crescendo Communications, LLC
Tel: 212-671-1021
Orgs@crescendo-ir.com