One company that has been garnering major attention of late is the Maryland company Northwest Biotherapeutics. A state-of-the-art biotechnology company, the young company’s main focus is on developing immunotherapy products that treat cancers more efficiently than current treatments. With that plan in place, Northwest Biotherapeutics has started to turn heads in the field of cancer treatment.
Today, Northwest Bio. announced that the US Patent and Trademark Office has allowed the company’s patent application on a system for automation of the initial stages of the manufacture of their DCVAX therapeutic cancer vaccines. The current first generation manufacturing is highly precise and achieves a concentration of at least 80% or more dendritic cells in the vaccines of which the initial manufacturing stages seek a very high concentration.
Dendritic cells are the essential active component in the DCVax vaccine and they are the patient’s own master immune cells. The dendritic cells are responsible for mobilizing the entire immune system and its many players.
Use of NWBT’s automated system has already been cleared by the FDA for human clinical trials and will provide a great deal of reduced direct costs and a major reduction in capital costs.
One of the key leaders at NWBT is Dr. Marnix Bosch who serves as the company’s CTO. Commenting on the FDA approval, Dr. Bosch was quoted as saying, “We have spent over a decade working on manufacturing technologies to achieve cost efficiencies and scalability. NWBT has already achieved significant cost efficiencies by pioneering a unique batch manufacturing process. These efficiencies will be further enhanced by the automated system we have developed, and it is very gratifying to receive the allowance of this important US patent on our automated device.”
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