Pluristyx, panCELLa, and Implant Therapeutics Announce Definitive Merger Agreement

Fully integrated companies streamline access to genetically modified stem cells for clinical development

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, Pluristyx, panCELLa, and Implant Therapeutics management are excited to announce their corporate merger, pending shareholder approval. The merged company will combine complementary portfolios to offer end-to-end customer support and provide increased access to a wide range of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-related products and services. The integrated technological and service offerings will greatly accelerate the development and delivery of revolutionary cell therapies to patients.

This merger announcement follows their successful partnership in January 2022 which enables streamlined access to the next generation of safe, universal, cost-effective, “off-the-shelf" iPSCs. Pluristyx/panCELLa’s iPSCs are generated through a proprietary mRNA-based technology and are conveniently available in a ‘try-before-you-buy’ research evaluation model requiring low up-front licensing fees. Packaged in Pluristyx’s Ready-to-Differentiate® format, iPSCs containing panCELLa’s FailSafe® and hypoimmunogenic technologies offer customers, at any stage of product development, the ability to rapidly assess and select lines for further development and manufacturing. Since Plurisytx/panCELLa iPSC’s are sourced from clinical-grade material, commercial partners can readily transition from development to therapeutic manufacturing.

Regarding this merger, Mahendra Rao, Co-Chairman of the Board at panCELLa and CEO of Implant Therapeutics, commented, “We are extremely excited to be joining forces with Pluristyx. From the start of our collaboration, it was clear that the expertise and strong track record in cell therapy development within the Pluristyx team was the perfect fit to maximize the customer benefit from our technologies. By coming together, we can offer clients an industry-leading suite of technologies and services for the next generation of cell therapies.”

Benjamin Fryer, Chief Executive Officer, Pluristyx said: “In discussions with customers, it became evident that panCELLa’s hypoimmune and FailSafe® technologies are seen as industry gold-standards. This merger takes us one step farther in our journey to become the leading provider of iPSC and cell therapy solutions for research, diagnostic, and clinical applications. Together with the expertise and technology portfolio of panCELLa, we can now provide a full suite of tools and provide the fastest path to gene-edited iPSC-based therapies.”

The merged companies will retain the Pluristyx name with panCELLa becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Pluristyx. Benjamin Fryer will continue as the Chief Executive Officer and Mahendra Rao will take on the role of Chief Science Officer. Current Pluristyx and panCELLa executives will be Jason Carstens as the Chief Operating Officer, Brian Hawkins as the Chief Technology Officer, Kaye Reiter as General Counsel, Jake Krembil as VP of Business Development/Toronto Site Lead, and James Laing as VP of Finance.

About Pluristyx

Pluristyx is a privately held biotechnology company based in Seattle, WA that offers consulting, wet-lab and GMP banking services, and pluripotent stem cell products to support novel therapeutic developers. Pluristyx helps industry and academic researchers solve manufacturing and analytical challenges in cryopreservation, drug development, regenerative medicine, and cell and gene therapy. The Pluristyx team has decades of experience supporting every stage of cell therapy product development, from cell banking to drug product manufacturing including analytical testing and release of clinical grade cell therapy products. To learn more, visit www.pluristyx.com or email [e-mail].

About panCELLa

Co-founded in 2015 by Dr. Andras Nagy, PhD, stem cell biologist and Dr. Armand Keating, MD, PhD, clinical scientist, and hematologist, panCELLa is a privately held early-stage biotechnology firm based on the innovative technology developed in Dr. Andras Nagy’s lab at the Sinai Health System (SHS) in Toronto, Canada. panCELLa has created platforms that allow for the development of safe, universal, cost-effective, “off-the-shelf” therapeutic cell products for medicine. panCELLa has secured partnerships with several biotechnology partners to enhance its patent position and provide expanded access to its exclusive FailSafe® and Cloaked Cells®/iACT cells. panCELLa continues its internal R&D efforts to develop additional novel uses of its platform technologies in areas such as bio-production, cancer vaccination and tolerization. To learn more, visit https://pancella.com.

About Implant Therapeutics

A subsidiary of panCELLa, Implant is a biotechnology company based in Maryland, United States. As a developer of genetically engineered stem cells, Implant combines the advantages of iPSC-MSC with panCELLa’s exclusive safety platforms to deliver the ultimate therapeutic MSC products. To learn more, visit: www.implant-rx.com