ARPA-H Awards Up to $87 Million to Develop Room-Temperature Storage for Cellular Therapies

The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) announced four contract awards, worth up to $87 million over four years, to develop methods for producing, storing and transporting cell-based biologic medicines at room temperature.

The awards fund the agency's BioStabilization Systems Program, which aims to move these products from cryogenic storage at about −196 degrees Celsius to about 21 degrees Celsius. ARPA-H said ultra-cold storage requirements contribute to the high cost of these therapies, and a single dose can be lost to a shipping delay or cryogenic container failure.

Three teams will pursue different approaches to stabilizing cells: thin-film freeze-drying, freeze-assisted droplet drying and light-responsive gels with microfluidic processing. The American Type Culture Collection will serve as the independent verification and validation partner, supplying cell banks and assessing the viability and function of preserved products.

Teams will advance through phases with increasingly stringent benchmarks for cell viability, production speed and shelf-life stability. Funding is contingent on meeting research milestones. Toward the end of the program, teams will work with transition partners to apply their technologies to a cellular therapy.

ARPA-H said that, if successful, the technologies could reduce costs and product losses and expand access to cell-based therapies.