Vitrafy Life Sciences Limited (ASX: VFY) has announced a significant partnership with Versiti Blood Health, Inc., a U.S. non-profit blood network. The collaboration is set to advance the development of Vitrafy’s cryopreservation ecosystem specifically for platelets. Vitrafy Life Sciences has developed a proprietary cryopreservation ecosystem, including the Guardion cryopreservation freezing unit and LifeChain™, a cloud-based software platform, designed to support the collection, cryopreservation, storage and delivery of sensitive biological materials.
This partnership follows a successful Phase II in-vitro platelet study conducted by the United States Army Institute of Surgical Research (USAISR), which demonstrated a 94.4% mean post-thaw platelet recovery using Vitrafy’s 3% DMSO no-wash protocol. While the use of Vitrafy’s ecosystem for cryopreserved platelets remains in development, subject to U.S. regulatory requirements, the Versiti alliance represents Vitrafy’s third U.S. civilian blood partnership, and its first focused specifically on platelets, complementing existing red blood cell collaborations with Vitalant and Hoxworth Blood Center.
Under the agreement, both Vitrafy and Versiti will contribute resources to integrate Vitrafy’s no-wash platelet cryopreservation ecosystem into Versiti’s existing platelet workflows. Additionally, blood products provided through the partnership will support verification and validation activities necessary for Vitrafy’s cryopreservation freezer to obtain U.S. medical device listing for currently approved cryopreserved blood products, such as plasma, with a target completion in FY2027. Vitrafy will initially place two cryopreservation freezing units at Versiti’s Blood Research Institute in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, without charge, and fund certain verification and validation services. Managing Director and CEO, Brent Owens, stated that the Versiti partnership represents the third major civilian blood network to directly engage Vitrafy following the USAISR platelet studies, and the first dedicated to platelets. Mr Owens highlighted Vitrafy’s objective to help supply hospitals with high-quality cryopreserved platelets, addressing the current seven-day shelf life constraint and easing shortages reported by hospitals.
