iXCells Biotechnologies USA, Inc., a cell technology company providing innovative cell products and preclinical drug development services to the global academic, biotech, pharmaceutical, and rare disease communities announced the grand opening celebration of its new San Diego headquarters and Rare Disease Month Workshop.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony scheduled February 8th at 9am marks a milestone in the company’s growth, the grand opening of its new facility located at 10100 Willow Creek Road. This special event will be attended by invited guests, employees, leading industry scientists, entrepreneurs from the rare disease community, and San Diego’s honorable Mayor, Todd Gloria.
The company’s new 30,000 SF facility supports increasing market demand for disease relevant cell-based models and assay systems, such as iPSC derived cells, primary cells, 2 and 3-D cell culture models, organoids, and AI-ML based approaches. The pharmaceutical industry is increasingly shifting away from in-vivo animal models towards alternative cell-based systems since the FDA Modernization Act 2.0 signed into law December 29, 2022, now allows organizations to submit non-animal data using such alternative technologies to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of investigational drugs prior to conducting clinical trials.
iXCells Biotechnologies continues to play a leadership role in providing CRO services and fostering industry collaboration and innovation to support the rare disease community, spearheaded by its Co-Founder and President, Dr. Nianwei Lin. A rare disease is described as a life-threatening or chronically debilitating disease having low prevalence and is often genetically predisposed - for example, a disease affecting less than 200,000 people in U.S, fewer than 2,000 people in EU, and according to World Health Organization, fewer than 65 per 100,000. Currently there are more than 10,000 distinct types of rare genetic diseases, affecting 20 million people in the US and 400 million globally. Among these patients, 50% of them are children, and many of them won’t live to see their 5th birthday. Ninety five percent (95%) of rare diseases lack an FDA approved treatment.
This year’s Rare Disease Workshop will include talks from rare disease patient foundation leaders, scientific presentations covering iPSC derived CNS models, antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) development, industry collaborations in the Nof1 ecosystem, roundtable discussions and networking.
The company’s newly appointed CEO, Dr. Helge Bastian, said, “We’re thrilled to be officially celebrating this important milestone with our valued customers and employees, industry leaders, Great Point Partners, and Mayor Gloria. iXCells is a shining example of what an organization can accomplish with dedicated employees and a fervent desire to provide innovative solutions to some of the industry’s most challenging aspects of preclinical development.”
San Diego Mayor, Todd Gloria, commented, “San Diego’s life-sciences companies are on the vanguard of drug research and development. iXCells Biotechnologies’ pursuit of groundbreaking scientific advancements toward cures for common, rare, and ultra-rare diseases is truly remarkable, and I am delighted to support the important work they do both locally and worldwide.”