AcCELLerate Forum
The Oct. 2-3 hybrid workshop will bridge the gap between critical stakeholders to pinpoint today's challenges and create forward-thinking solutions that enable the cell and gene therapy industry to create and deliver life-saving treatments equitably.

MILWAUKEE, September 21, 2023 (Newswire.com) - -  AcCELLerate Forum, a partnership between Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR), the American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (ASTCT), and the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP)/Be The Match, will bring key stakeholders together to identify ongoing needs and opportunities in cell and gene therapy for advocacy, measurement of value, impact, and sustainability. The Oct. 2-3, workshop at the Sheraton Pentagon City Hotel in Arlington, VA, and online will bring together providers, payers, government agencies, and industry members to define essential factors needed to create a sustainable cell and gene therapy ecosystem. 

"CIBMTR is proud to co-sponsor this important forum that interests all key stakeholders across the ecosystem," said Marcelo Pasquini, MD, MS, Senior Scientific Director, CIBMTR MCW. "Our established relationships with a global network of treatment centers and cell and gene therapy developers uniquely position CIBMTR to bring these experts together to identify the needs and opportunities to adapt to this rapidly evolving field.” 

CIBMTR will join industry leaders, treatment-center partners, regulators, and other professionals to discuss the regulatory landscape for the approval of new products. The participants will focus on the perspectives of the payer and regulators, data acquisition and analysis, and center perspectives in defining outcomes for CAR-T cells. They will also discuss logistics for CAR-T, safety and toxicity, and the future directions and competing therapies. The forum will also include breakout sessions on the logistics of cell therapy delivery, efficacy, treatment decisions and sequencing, and manufacturing and logistics standardization in a moderator-led roundtable with attendee participation. Visit the event website to register.

Eligible members of the media are invited to attend AcCELLerate Forum in-person or online at no cost. Please contact Jennifer Kasowicz ([email protected]), Director of Marketing at ASTCT, at (312) 673-4970, to verify eligibility and receive the passcode.

About CIBMTR
The Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR) is a nonprofit research collaboration between the NMDP/Be The Match, in Minneapolis, and the Medical College of Wisconsin, in Milwaukee. CIBMTR collaborates with the global scientific community to increase survival and enrich the quality of life for patients. CIBMTR facilitates critical observational and interventional research through scientific and statistical expertise, a large network of centers, and a unique database of long-term clinical data for more than 635,000 people who have received hematopoietic cell transplantation and other cellular therapies. Learn more at cibmtr.org.

About ASTCT

The American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (ASTCT) is an international professional membership association of more than 3,000 physicians, investigators, and other health care professionals from more than 45 countries. Our mission is dedicated to improving the application and success of blood and marrow transplantation and related cellular therapies. For more information about ASTCT, visit www.astct.org and follow us on Twitter, @ASTCT.

About NMDP/Be The Match

The National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP)/Be The Match is the leading global partner working to save lives through cellular therapy. With 35 years of experience managing the most diverse registry of potential unrelated blood stem cell donors and cord blood units in the world, NMDP/Be The Match is a proven partner in providing cures to patients with life-threatening blood and marrow cancers and diseases. Through their global network, they connect centers and patients to their best cell therapy option—from blood stem cell transplant to a next-generation therapy—and collaborate with cell and gene therapy companies to support therapy development and delivery through Be The Match BioTherapies. 

GERMANTOWN, Md., September 21, 2023 (Newswire.com) - Seraxis Inc., a cell therapy company developing a pancreatic organoid cure to transform the lives of patients with Type 1 and insulin-requiring Type 2 diabetes, today announced the closing of the second tranche of its inaugural VC round to bring total equity investment in the company to over $50 million. Frazier Life Sciences, Polaris Partners, Eli Lilly and the JDRF T1D Fund participated in the step-up triggered by Seraxis’ achieving the completion of preclinical milestones of Seraxis’ novel pancreatic organoids, SR-02.

“Seraxis manufactures off-the-shelf pancreatic organoids from a stem cell line that was itself derived from a human pancreatic islet,” said Seraxis CEO, Dr. William Rust. “The result is a highly pure population of organoids that closely resembles the structure and function of native islets. We are very proud to have accomplished this manufacturing at clinical scale, with efficient, clinically compliant manufacturing processes, and used those organoids to complete IND-enabling pre-clinical studies.” 

“Seraxis game-changing stem cell line is not only highly functional pre-clinically but reproducibly manufacturable in a format suitable for clinical and, ultimately, commercial scale,” said Dr. Jamie Topper, a Director of Seraxis and Partner at Frazier Life Sciences. “Early animal data is very promising for a successful human implantation of these replacement organoids and could transform the lives of patients beset by the daily management and life-threatening complications of insulin-requiring diabetes.”

As the lead islet organoid program, SR-02, nears IND filing, the company has recruited 25-year business development veteran Ted Hibben to lead external business and commercial initiatives in the diabetes therapy ecosystem as Chief Corporate Development Officer. Ted has been the business leader in the C-suite of multiple therapeutic biotechnology companies, affecting over two dozen partnering transactions, IPOs and trade sales.

“Seraxis’ technology enables a differentiated disease-modifying therapy that promises to be safer, more efficacious and more scalable than other curative diabetes approaches, and to address a massive unmet medical need – over 1.5 million people in the US alone attempting to manage Type-1-Diabetes,” said Mr. Hibben. “I look forward to mustering financial and partnership resources to promptly advance Seraxis’ diabetes programs and to initiate collaborations to derive stem cells from other organs for future replacement organoid therapies.”

ABOUT SERAXIS

Seraxis is bringing transformative cures to the millions of people worldwide struggling with the management and life-threatening complications of insulin-dependent diabetes. 

Seraxis’ lead program, SR-02, is a novel, off-the-shelf pancreatic organoid therapy slated to enter clinical testing with immunosuppressive therapy in 2024 in patients with severe recurrent hypoglycemia. A follow-on diabetes program, SR-03, is a version of the Seraxis organoid altered to be unrecognized by the immune system for the broader indication of insulin-dependent patients without chronic immune suppression.

Seraxis’ underlying proprietary technology enables the creation of a pipeline of novel stem cell-derived therapies originating from single donated organs for other indications. The company’s lead therapeutic program, SR-02, is manufactured from a stem cell line derived from a human donor pancreas. These cells preferentially re-differentiate into organoids containing all the endocrine cells of the native pancreatic islet, and with safety, potency, and manufacturing advantages over embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells.

Seraxis manufactures its best-in-class therapeutic organoids using scalable, clinically compliant processes in its cGMP facility located in Maryland’s I-270 Biotech Corridor.

For more information, please visit www.seraxis.com.

HealthAxis Best Place to Work Badge
HealthAxis Best Place to Work Badge 2023

TAMPA, Fla., September 21, 2023 (Newswire.com) - HealthAxis, a prominent provider of core administrative processing solutions and BPaaS capabilities to healthcare payers, risk-bearing providers, and third-party administrators, announced it has been Certified™ by Great Place to Work®, the foremost authority on workplace culture, employee experience, and the leadership qualities essential for driving market-leading revenue, employee retention, and innovation. 

"At HealthAxis, we have always believed that our people are our greatest asset. This Great Place to Work Certification™ reaffirms our dedication to fostering a workplace culture where our employees thrive, innovate, and collaborate,” said Matt Hughes, Chief Executive Officer of HealthAxis. “It's a testament to our team's hard work and our ongoing commitment to providing a workplace that values trust, respect, and fairness."

The Great Place to Work Certification™ is based on results of the Trust Index™ survey administered by the Great Place to Work Institute, which assesses employee satisfaction in key areas, from credibility and respect to fairness and camaraderie. A summary of the company's scores is on HealthAxis’s Great Places to Work™ profile, with highlights including:

• 90% of employees feel they are entrusted with a significant level of responsibility.
• 90% of employees reported a warm and welcoming experience when joining HealthAxis.
• 89% find our facilities conducive to a positive working environment.
• 89% of our team members feel they can take the necessary time off from work when needed.
• 87% believe that our management upholds honesty and ethics in our business practices.

"Our unwavering commitment to a people-first approach shapes everything we do," said Angela Benmassaoud, Chief People Officer of HealthAxis. "We're proud to be a purpose-driven company, fostering a human-centric environment where employees are inspired, empowered, and find a sense of purpose in their work, driving us toward excellence together."

According to Great Place To Work research, job seekers are 4.5 times more likely to discover an exceptional leader at a Certified great workplace. Furthermore, employees at Certified workplaces are 93% more likely to anticipate each workday with enthusiasm, twice as likely to receive fair compensation, earn a fair share of company profits, and have a fair chance at career advancement.

To learn more about HealthAxis’s people, culture, and career opportunities, visit our careers page at: HealthAxis.com/Careers.

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About HealthAxis
HealthAxis is at the forefront of transforming healthcare delivery in the United States through state-of-the-art technological solutions. AxisCore^™, our next-gen core administrative processing system (CAPS) technology, alongside AxisConnect^™, our modern business process as a service (BPaaS) capabilities, empowers payers, risk-bearing providers, and third-party administrators to optimize their operations, elevate efficiency, and enhance member engagement. By addressing pivotal challenges faced by payers, we are committed to improving member and provider experiences, thereby fostering more favorable outcomes, and contributing to the advancement of a healthier future.