GERMANTOWN, Md., Feb. 11, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Orgenesis Inc. (NASDAQ: ORGS), a provider of point-of-care cell and gene therapy development, processing and treatment solutions, today announced the completion of the sale of its Masthercell Global, Inc. subsidiary, a contract development manufacturing organization (CDMO), to Catalent Pharma Solutions. Upon closing, Orgenesis received net proceeds of approximately $127 million from the transaction. Orgenesis also provided an update and unveiled plans for its rapidly evolving POCare solutions.
Vered Caplan, CEO of Orgenesis, stated, “In 2015, we acquired Masthercell, having identified an industry trend and unmet demand for first-in-class cell and gene therapy CDMO services. Since acquiring Masthercell, the CDMO segment revenue has increased from a run-rate of just $3 million to a run-rate of approximately $30 million at the end of 2019, reflecting a compound annual growth rate of 59% under our leadership, and a sale price of more than 5 times our initial purchase price of approximately $25 million. Meanwhile, the market opportunity and value proposition for Orgenesis’ POCare solutions has continued to increase, as these solutions uniquely enable localized cell and gene therapy development, processing and supply within the patient care setting. As such, we decided it was the right time to sell Masthercell to maximize value for our shareholders, and focus our efforts around our POCare solutions, which we believe represent a major paradigm shift and will play a major role in the future of the cell and gene therapy market. As previously announced, we have already established joint ventures with leading universities and healthcare institutions and are in advanced discussions with a number of additional major institutions around the world.”
“Our POCare platform is designed to provide unique cell and gene therapy capabilities in a cost effective, high quality and scalable manner, using closed systems and other advanced cell processing technologies at the point of care. In addition, our platform enables us to advance our therapeutic pipeline, and to identify additional in-licensing and acquisition opportunities from biopharmaceutical companies, research organizations and healthcare institutes, while providing continuous development support for these partners, including regulatory services and clinical studies. In turn, we can aid in the delivery of these therapeutic developments through our international point of care network, as a one-stop-solution for the onsite collection, processing and administration of cell and gene therapies for patients within the hospital setting.”
“By switching from a high-cost centralized manufacturing model to a localized point-of-care model, Orgenesis believes it can dramatically reduce costs and accelerate the path to bringing life-saving therapies to patients. These therapies span a wide range of treatments, such as cell-based immunotherapies, therapeutics for metabolic diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, tissue regeneration and more. As a result of the sale of Masthercell and the infusion of capital that this transaction generated, as well as the tremendous progress of our evolving POCare platform, I truly believe Orgenesis is now positioned at the forefront of this rapidly emerging industry. We remain committed to developing Orgenesis into a formidable world-wide organization, continuing our dedication to patients and generating value for our shareholders.”
About Orgenesis
Orgenesis is a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development, manufacturing and processing of technologies and services in the cell and gene therapy industry. The Company operates a point-of-care (“POCare”) cell therapy platform whose aim is to further the development of Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (“ATMPs”) through collaborations and in-licensing with other pre-clinical and clinical-stage biopharmaceutical companies and research and healthcare institutes to bring such ATMPs to patients. The Company out-licenses these ATMPs through regional partners to whom it also provides regulatory, pre-clinical and training services to support their activity in order to reach patients in a point-of-care hospital setting. Additional information is available at: www.orgenesis.com.
