The partnership expands collaboration between the blood industry, biopharma and the advanced therapy sector.
Versiti, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving blood health for patients everywhere, has joined the Blood and Cells Advocacy Roster (BCAR) consortium to help advance collaboration between the traditional blood sector and the broader healthcare industry, including biopharma and the rapidly growing advanced therapy industry.
BCAR is an industry collaboration between blood and tissue collection networks, related technology providers, biotherapy communities, and other stakeholders that communicates the importance of blood and increasing patient access to life-saving blood and advanced therapies. The eight members of the group are uniquely positioned to pool collective capabilities in order to better understand and address the needs of patients, including an upcoming AI-based data initiative, currently in development, to optimize the blood needs of the underserved sickle cell disease community.
Versiti’s experience in blood collection, diagnostics, research, cellular therapy support, and translational medicine will make the company an invaluable member as the partner organizations continue to highlight the importance of blood and access to blood-based therapies, as well as how existing blood-industry infrastructure can support the evolving needs of cell and gene therapy developers.
“Versiti’s participation in the consortium reflects growing industry interest in expanding the impact of global blood health expertise to benefit patient needs,” said Michelle Boxall, BCAR Founder. “Many of the fundamental operational capabilities ensuring broad access to blood products today are the same ones needed to support other areas of the sector, especially the future of advanced therapies. We welcome the addition of Versiti to our collaborative expertise, helping extend our reach even further.”
“BCAR recognizes the value of established donor recruitment systems, regulated processing environments, logistics capabilities and strong hospital partnerships to advance blood therapies while helping address manufacturing and supply chain challenges in cell and gene therapies,” said Brian Bautista, executive vice president of Versiti Clinical Trials Services. “We look forward to applying our experience to support innovation across the advanced therapy and blood therapy ecosystems.”