NorthWest Biotherapeutics Inc (NWBO)

[flipper44]

Thanks for your expertise Gnawks,

It looks like Argos is really at the early stages of manufacturing development.

SAN DIEGO, CA and DURHAM, NC - Nov. 5, 2014 - Invetech, a global leader in instrument development, custom automation and contract manufacturing, and Argos Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: ARGS) ("Argos"), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of fully personalized immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases, today announced that they have entered into an agreement under which Invetech will develop and supply manufacturing systems to support production needs for fully personalized immunotherapies based on Argos' Arcelis® technology platform. Under the terms of the agreement, Invetech will provide Argos with services, technology and equipment to support the design, development, supply and maintenance of customized manufacturing systems to support production of patient-specific immunotherapies.

Argos and Invetech previously established a collaboration to develop prototype manufacturing systems for the production of fully personalized immunotherapies based on Argos' Arcelis® technology platform. This new collaboration will support automated production for Argos' potential regulatory approvals and subsequent commercialization of its Arcelis®-based patient-specific immunotherapies.

"As we work to advance our lead product candidate, AGS-003, through late-stage clinical research and on to the final stages of the regulatory approval process, our production needs are positioned to expand with any commercial approvals we receive. The Invetech team has supported our production goals in the past and we believe is uniquely positioned to deliver the range of technology solutions necessary to meet the specialized needs of commercializing products based on our Arcelis® technology platform," said Jeff Abbey, president and CEO of Argos.

"This agreement reflects Invetech's proven ability to design highly automated, reliable, and cost-effective technology solutions to support production of complex cell-based immunotherapies for companies including development-stage and startup organizations. Our depth of experience means that we can engineer manufacturing systems able to rapidly advance clinical research and commercialization strategies," said Richard Grant, senior VP, cell therapy at Invetech.

In this collaboration, the system design and production teams at Invetech will supply Argos with modular, readily scalable and highly automated equipment able to facilitate simultaneous processing of multiple patient-specific therapies in the same clean room. The technology is designed to be rapidly expandable to accommodate anticipated increases in production volume to support future global commercialization pending regulatory approvals. The parties intend that the systems developed will be able to support production of new therapies based on the Arcelis® technology platform targeting additional indications.