The proposed collaboration will aim to increase the accessibility of automated cell thawing technologies. By using Astero Bio Corporation’s advanced cell thawing platform, the collaboration will work to advance the development of therapeutics by improving product quality and reliability.
Cognate BioServices, a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), will serve as a technology reference partner for Astero’s AT6 cell thawing platform, which enables the CDMO’s clients to evaluate a method of controlling thaw cycles within the stages of a product’s lifecycle.
Per this potential collaboration, Cognate’s customers will be able to automate and control the cell thawing process, which the company states has not been possible previously.
Samuel Kent, Astero’s co-founder and CEO, said in a statement that through this partnership Astero’s automated cell thawing platform can be used to solve “manufacturing challenges customers face as they move into clinical manufacturing.”
Without automation, cell thawing has the potential to create undesirable variability in the final product. Astero stated that its cell thawing technology can provide a consistent process with portable units making the technology capable of being used at the site of administration.
A center for innovation and development will also be created through the collaboration, located in Memphis, Tennessee.
The company did not provide any further details on the progress or process to establish this center; however, Cognate’s facilities would also serve as a beta site for new technologies under the proposed partnership.
In a similar move, Cognate recently collaborated with Terumo to establish a center for excellence.