Kincell Bio Announces Strategic Collaboration with Major Academic Medical Center to Advance Cell and Gene Therapy Innovation

DURHAM, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Kincell Bio Inc., a cell therapy contract development and manufacturing organization, today announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the Duke University School of Medicine. The collaboration is designed to accelerate innovation in cell and gene therapy research, strengthen translational pathways, and support the development of scalable and efficient manufacturing solutions for advanced biologics.

Under the agreement, Kincell Bio and Duke will jointly pursue opportunities to align academic discovery with industrial expertise. The partnership will be guided by a joint steering committee, co-chaired by Bruce Thompson, Ph.D., chief technology officer at Kincell Bio, and Beth Shaz, M.D., deputy director of the Marcus Center for Cellular Cures (MC3) and Professor of Pathology at Duke.

The committee will oversee initiatives that include:

• Program referral and cross-support between Kincell Bio and MC3, enabling seamless coordination of clinical trial design, donor screening, regulatory submissions, clinical and commercial-scale development, and manufacturing.
• Joint evaluation of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence and machine learning applications in process optimization, predictive analytics, and clinical data integration.
• Support for translational research, including co-development of enabling tools, joint grant applications, and the organization of academic–industry educational forums.

“This collaboration reflects our shared commitment to building an integrated biotech ecosystem in North Carolina and beyond,” said Thompson. “We look forward to accelerating the path from discovery to patient impact.”

“We want to bring innovative therapies closer to the patients who need them,” said Shaz. “Integrating tools like artificial intelligence and machine learning into our research workflows allows us to advance translational science and create new pathways for faculty innovations to achieve clinical impact and improve patient outcomes.”

The collaboration positions Kincell Bio at the forefront of innovation in cellular therapies, with opportunities to expand into areas such as regulatory strategy, advanced analytics, and scalable biomanufacturing.

About Kincell Bio

Kincell Bio engineers cells into therapies. With manufacturing facilities located in Research Triangle Park, NC and Gainesville, FL, Kincell Bio is a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) with the mission to streamline CMC development, with expertise in analytical and process development and GMP manufacturing, testing and release from early clinical, to pivotal studies, and product launch. Kincell Bio is focused on supporting innovative companies developing immune cell therapies, including autologous and allogeneic CAR-T, TCRs, Tregs and CAR-NK programs, as well as developing expertise in stem cell products and iPSCs. For more information, www.kincellbio.com, and follow us on LinkedIn.