Collaboration marks first contractual partnership with supplier of universal donor material
Amsterdam, The Netherlands, September 28, 2020 – Kiadis Pharma N.V. (“Kiadis” or the “Company”) (Euronext Amsterdam and Brussels: KDS), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing innovative NK-cell-based medicines for the treatment of life-threatening diseases and Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center (GCRBC), a primary supplier of blood components to more than 170 hospitals and health care facilities, today announce a collaboration under which GCRBC will supply universal donor starting material for the manufacture of Kiadis’ off-the-shelf K-NK Natural Killer (NK) cell therapies in the United States.
Kiadis’ proprietary off-the-shelf K-NK cell platform is based on NK cells from unique universal donors. This collaboration will provide Kiadis with an ongoing supply of starting material needed for clinical supply and research and development. The Company is developing multiple K-NK programs utilizing universal donor starting material.
Arthur Lahr, chief executive officer of Kiadis, commented, “Our collaboration with Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center gives us access to their broad donor network to identify universal donors using our proprietary algorithm and selection analytics. We then take the donor immune cells as source material to produce off-the-shelf K-NK cells. This collaboration further helps us ensure a continued supply of universal donor material for our K-NK cell therapy programs.”
Hope Guidry-Groves, Cellular Life Solutions Director at Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center, stated, “Our mission is to partner with the community to help save and sustain lives by providing a safe supply of blood, biotherapies and related services. With our history of excellence and proven expertise, we can help drive more treatment options to patients through advanced blood therapies. By helping researchers locate willing and eligible participants for these specialized collections, we are doing our part in bringing new hope to patients.”
