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Orgenesis CEO Vered Caplan says R&D labs still operating during coronavirus pandemic

Published: 09:10 30 Mar 2020 EDT

Orgenesis - Orgenesis Inc (NASDAQ:ORGS) CEO Vered Caplan tells shareholders that its research and development labs are still operating during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic
The company's CGT Biotech Platform consists of three core components -- POCare Therapeutics, POCare Technologies, and POCare Network

Orgenesis Inc's (NASDAQ:ORGS) CEO Vered Caplan told shareholders Monday that its research and development labs are still operating during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

“We are leveraging all our knowledge and expertise in the field of cell and gene therapy, including anti-viral technologies relevant to COVID-19. We look forward to providing further updates on this front in the very near future,” Caplan said in a statement.

READ: Orgenesis sees fiscal 2019 revenue surge by 78% to a record $33.3M

Meanwhile, Caplan noted that Orgenesis has “dramatically transformed” since the beginning of 2020.

She said the biggest milestone so far for the Maryland-based developer of advanced cell and gene therapies was its February sale of subsidiary Masthercell Global Inc, a contract development manufacturing organization, to Catalent Pharma Solutions for around $127 million. 

“This sale was an important step in our strategy to leverage our unique capabilities that directly address the key challenges facing the cell and gene therapy (CGT) industry,” the CEO pointed out.

“Despite the fact that CGT therapies have the potential to solve some of the most challenging diseases in the world, many of these therapies cost hundreds of thousands of dollars per patient, per year. In order to address this barrier to broader market adoption of CGTs, we recently unveiled our CGT Biotech Platform, whose goal is to decentralize the CGT supply chain and coordinate services across the entire product lifecycle from research and licensing, through clinical trials, cell processing and distribution at the point-of-care. Through this integrated approach, our goal is to lower costs, accelerate speed to market, and make CGTs more accessible to patients,” she added.

Orgenesis’ CGT Biotech Platform consists of three core components: POCare Therapeutics, POCare Technologies, and POCare Network. 

“The unification of these three components under one organization will enable expedited development of affordable and accessible therapies,” Caplan said. 

“We now have significant expertise and capabilities across a wide range of therapies and supporting technologies, ranging from Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes (TILs) to CAR-T and CAR-NK, from dendritic cell technologies to exosomes and bioxomes, to viral vectors and much more. These capabilities have enabled us to launch an aggressive push into a wide array of promising new potential therapies.” 

Caplan added: “I appreciate the patience and support of our shareholders, especially in light of the current pandemic. We are committed to developing innovative solutions to this and other diseases by unlocking the power of cell and gene therapies. It is also important to reiterate that despite the current market turbulence, we have a strong balance sheet and are well-positioned to drive long-term shareholder value.”

Contact the author: patrick@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow him on Twitter @PatrickMGraham

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