BioIVT opens blood donor centre in Scotland to expand leukopak collection
BioIVT's latest facility is located just outside Glasgow city centre in the West of Scotland Science Park, which is home to more than 40 life science and technology businesses. The new donor centre will be used primarily for producing LEUKOMAX leukopaks, which contain concentrated white blood cells and are used for CGT research.
Key highlights:
- BioIVT's new facility will produce fresh leukopaks for cell and gene therapy research in the UK and Europe.
- BioIVT experts validate donors based on demographic criteria and other specifications, and are able to reserve cells from donors to allow program consistency.
- Leukopaks are useful for those researchers looking for a large number of leukocytes from a single donor.
Leukocytes are separated from whole blood, whilst the RBCs, platelets, and leukocyte-poor plasma are returned to the donor, in a process called leukapheresis. The leukapheresis-enriched leukopaks contain higher amounts of mononuclear cells (MNCs) than from buffy coat collection and are of higher purity. A higher MNC count is important in research and clinical uses such as; cell-based assays, cell-therapy process development, bio-marker discovery, and more.
“BioIVT’s new blood donor center in Scotland expands our collection capacity, and further strengthens our position as a high quality, global immune cell provider. Our Glasgow facility will give local researchers access to fresh LEUKOMAX leukopaks, which provide a more representative format for cell and gene therapy research. For other applications, customers will have access to BioIVT’s extensive global inventory of cryopreserved materials, which are ready to ship from the US or UK,” said Wini Luty, senior director of Biologic Operations at BioIVT.
BioIVT experts work with customers to validate donors based on demographic criteria, HLA-type, Fc receptor type and other specifications. They can also reserve cells from individual donors to provide program consistency.
“I am proud to report this is BioIVT’s eleventh blood donor center and it perfectly complements our other UK center in White City, London. Both UK facilities are strategically located in a life sciences hub, near a strong donor base, and extensive transportation resources,” continued Wini Luty.
BioIVT’s cell and gene therapy portfolio also includes human AB serum, isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells, and other purified immune cell subsets. Additional information about these product lines is available here.