Cell Vault, a Florida startup, wants to store your immune cells for future use. According to the company, these cells can be used to make so-called anticancer drugs, and they can be frozen and preserved. The initial price is 700 dollars, and then the annual frozen storage price is 300 dollars.
In contrast, cell therapies Kymriah and Yescarta require billions of cells. These cells are not obtained by drawing blood, but by a process called dialysis. In this process, immune cells in human blood are separated by machines, and then the remaining blood is sent back to the body. This process collects billions of cells needed for T cell therapy. However, Kirk said that the cells stored by patients can be propagated in the laboratory to make enough cells for surgery, but the company did not provide any evidence that it could do this.
It is not clear whether the FDA will allow this method of storing cells for future treatment. Levine and Lin said that manufacturers of T cell therapy may need FDA approval to use pre-frozen T cells provided by third parties. The FDA also limits the storage time of these cells. Lin said: "It is impossible for you to transport some cells to the company when necessary, and directly produce, reproduce and put them into use. Such assumptions and ideas are too simplistic. "
At present, there is not enough data to show that immune cells can still be effective after freezing for 20 years or more. (Cell Vault offers a package with a storage period of 20 years, which costs $200 per year, and a package with a lifetime storage period of 80 years, which costs only $65,438+000 per year. Levin is worried that companies that provide immune cell storage services may sell false hopes to patients with cancer and other serious diseases. "They are playing on people's fears."