Cellenkos Chooses Cryoport to Support Covid-19 Therapy Shipments to Patients

Cellenkos Inc., a privately held, clinical-stage biotechnology company, has selected Cryoport to provide a staged, on-demand, logistics solution for Covid-19 therapy shipments for patients in need.

Working in concert, Cryoport Systems, CRYOPDP and CRYOGENE will provide the highest possible available level of tracking and proactive management for the therapies, including continuous monitoring of each step from scheduling, collection, confirming courier pickups/deliveries, and monitoring transport.

Under the terms of the agreement, Cryoport Systems delivers its Cryoport Express Shippers to Cellenkos' manufacturing facility in Houston, Texas, on a weekly basis. When a patient is identified, the team at Cellenkos places their therapy inside the shipper and notifies Cryoport Systems. The Cryoport Express Shipper is collected and delivered to the patient the same day or the next day for longer journeys.

During the entire process, Cellenkos has full visibility and oversight through the cloud based Cryoportal Logistics Management Platform which provides near real-time tracking and monitoring of the shipment and the SmartPak II Condition Monitoring System, supported by the Cryoport Systems' 24/7 customer support team. Furthermore, CRYOPDP provides some of the logistics support and CRYOGENE provides biostorage services for Cellenkos at its nearby state-of-the-art facility.

"Having three of our Cryoport companies provide flexible logistics support for the various stages of Cellenkos' COVID-19 therapy shipments demonstrates our ongoing commitment to helping clients find the best possible solutions for patients who need to be treated quickly and is a clear demonstration of the value of our integrated supply chain platform," said Jerrell Shelton, CEO, Cryoport. "We look forward to working closely with Cellenkos to support the company with our full range of temperature-controlled solutions to help patients suffering from COVID-19 recover and return to their daily lives."

"Cryoport's best-in-class solutions enable Cellenkos to rapidly respond to patients' urgent needs, without needing advanced notice and providing full visibility while treatments are in transit," added Tara Sadeghi, vice president, Clinical Operations, Cellenkos. "Temperature-controlled logistics solutions are vital for our therapy's success, and with the flexibility provided by Cryoport Systems, CRYOGENE and CRYOPDP, we are able to have consistent, reliable support at each stage of our therapy's journey to the patient. During the pandemic, Cryoport's seamless and dependable delivery logistics allowed for Cellenkos to treat critically sick, intubated patients suffering from COVID-19 ARDS with a narrow therapeutic window in multi-center clinical study (Phase 1 Double-Blinded, Randomized, Placebo Controlled Safety and Early Efficacy Trial of Cryopreserved Cord Blood Derived T-Regulatory Cell Infusions (CK0802) In The Treatment Of COVID-19 Induced Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome ("ARDS") NCT04468971).”

Sadeghi continued, "Our confidence in Cryoport's outstanding ability to solve for a major point of failure in the cell therapeutics is exemplified by our alliance with them to be our logistics partner for the multi-center, randomized placebo control trial of CK0802 for treatment of COVID-19 ARDS: RESOLVE Trial (Regulatory T cell infusion for lung injury due to COVID-19, NCT04468971) as well as for our future planned studies."