Two bodies with deep pockets--GE Ventures and the Mayo Clinic--have joined forces to launch a new company devoted to personalized cell and gene therapy and the software required to make them more efficient and cost-effective.
The new platform company, Vitruvian Networks, will aim to partner with biotech companies to give them access to software and manufacturing capabilities to boost their cell and gene therapies, which require enormous amounts of data analytics and information systems.
Vitruvian's first focus will be on the production of cell therapies targeting blood cancers. The company, based in Menlo Park, CA, will develop the infrastructure needed to discover new therapies in the field.
The joint venture will combine the two parent companies' strengths; Mayo's biomarkers data and information regarding cell therapy processes will help on the development side, and GE's technology networks and tools will help make them accessible across a number of platforms.
"The highly customized nature of cell and gene therapies shows great promise for patient care, but it also introduces logistical challenges that make mass manufacturing uniquely complex," said GE Healthcare Life Sciences CEO Kieran Murphy. "GE's multiangle approach to driving the innovation in this industry will help to more quickly and efficiently bring cell and gene therapies to the patients who anxiously await them."
The terms of the launch were not divulged.
"Autologous therapies in the area of regenerative and personalized medicine have shown great promise in treating life-threatening diseases," said Mayo Clinic Regenerative Medicine Director Andre Terzic. "We are excited that Vitruvian Networks will further drive standardization of the industry, increase scalability and bring forward the realization of critical therapeutic potential to address the unmet needs of patients around the world."
- here's the release