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news.Orgenesis SPRL, Belgian subsidiary of US-based Orgenesis (ORGS), has signed a strategic agreement with MaSTherCell of Gosselies, Belgium, to scale manufacturing of insulin-producing liver cells to combat diabetes.
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The agreement is expected to allow ORGS to advance its manufacturing (GMP) process from lab scale to clinical scale as it prepares for Phase I and Phase II clinical trials.
ORGS is a pioneer in the field of ‘cellular trans-differentiation,’ a process being developed to transform a type 1 diabetic patient’s own liver cells into new insulin-producing cells.
The company said that cellular trans-differentiation involves a complex biologic process, and requires sophisticated manufacturing technology and capabilities.
Orgenesis and Orgenesis SPRL CEO Jacob BenArie said the team at MaSTherCell has the right mix of capabilities, experience, technology and manufacturing processes in place to make it a natural fit for the company and will give it scalability in its efforts to have a significant impact on Type 1 diabetes.
"We wanted a partner with a centrally located facility in Europe. MaSTherCell is located in the Walloon region of Belgium with access to a large biotech talent pool which they may tap into as we scale up our operations and activities," BenArie said.
MaSTherCell CEO Hugues Bultot said, "It is gratifying to see our cell therapy development and manufacturing service capabilities being used to support Orgenesis as they move ahead with their efforts to help patients suffering from Type 1 diabetes."
Services will be initiated following approval of The Directorate General operational for Economy, Employment and Research (DGO6) of Belgium, which will be providing grants to fund the research and manufacturing activities.