Northwest Biotherapeutics and NHS Blood and Transplant have agreed a collaboration to support production of DCVax-L, a personalised immunotherapy for solid tumour cancers. The partnership will begin in Leeds and Oxford, with plans to extend services across England.
DCVax-L uses a patient’s own immune system to recognise and attack cancer. Each treatment is manufactured individually using immune cells collected from the patient and material from their tumour.
Under the agreement, NHS Blood and Transplant will provide specialist services to collect and process patients’ immune cells for DCVax-L manufacturing. This includes leukapheresis, which collects the white blood cells needed for the personalised treatment, alongside specialist cell processing and handling delivered by Cellular and Molecular Therapies teams.
The process uses leukapheresis, an established procedure that collects specific white blood cells while returning remaining blood components to the body.
Working with Northwest Biotherapeutics and Advent Bioservices, NHS Blood and Transplant will help strengthen UK infrastructure supporting DCVax-L production.
The organisations are also exploring opportunities to expand the collaboration across NHS Blood and Transplant’s network of specialist facilities. This could reduce the distances patients and families need to travel.
Ms Linda Powers, CEO of Northwest Biotherapeutics, said: “NHSBT’s impressive expertise and facilities for advanced therapies are at the forefront of the field. We are very excited about collaborating with them on our DCVax-L personalised immune therapies for cancer. We believe NHSBT’s capabilities can significantly enhance the scale-up and accessibility of DCVax-L.”
Dr James Griffin, Medical Director NHS Blood and Transplant, explained: “The collaboration forms part of ongoing work between NHSBT, NWBio and Advent Bioservices to strengthen the infrastructure supporting the production of DCVax-L in the UK. We aim to help make cutting edge advanced therapies more accessible.
“Alongside the planned expansion of the existing therapeutic apheresis and cell processing model, the organisations are also exploring opportunities for broader collaboration involving NHSBT’s specialist laboratory and advanced therapies capabilities.”
