BioLife Solutions Customer Kite Pharma Receives FDA Approval for Yescartatm (Axicabtagene Ciloleucel) CAR T-Cell Therapy

BOTHELL, Wash., Oct. 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: BLFS), the leading developer, manufacturer and marketer of proprietary clinical grade cell and tissue hypothermic storage and cryopreservation freeze media ("BioLife" or the "Company"), today announced that its customer Kite Pharma, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gilead Sciences, has received US FDA approval for Yescarta, the first CAR T-cell therapy for treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory large B-Cell lymphoma after two or more lines of systemic therapy. As announced in a July 2016 press release, BioLife executed a long-term agreement to supply its proprietary CryoStor cell freeze media to Kite Pharma. Each manufactured dose of Yescarta is frozen in CryoStor to maintain CAR T-cell viability and enable worldwide distribution.

Mike Rice, BioLife President & CEO, commented, "This is a great day for cancer patients. Kite Pharma is on the forefront of bringing potential cures for several different cancers to the market. We are proud to be a critical supplier to Kite Pharma and look forward to supporting their additional CAR T-cell clinical trials by supplying CryoStor for use in their manufacturing and distribution processes."

For more information please visit:

https://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm581216.htm

About BioLife Solutions

Our proprietary HypoThermosol^® and CryoStor^® platform of biopreservation media products are highly valued in the regenerative medicine, biobanking and drug discovery markets. These are serum-free, protein-free, fully defined, and formulated to reduce preservation-induced cell damage and death.  Our enabling, embeddable technologies provides commercial companies and clinical researchers significant improvement in shelf life and post-preservation viability and function of cells, tissues, and organs. 

For more information please visit www.biolifesolutions.com, and follow BioLife on Twitter.

Cautions Regarding Forward Looking Statements

Except for historical information contained herein, this press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements concerning the company's anticipated business and operations, the potential utility of and market for its products and services, potential revenue growth and market expansion, commercial manufacturing of our customers' products, and projected financial results. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements. These statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements, including among other things, uncertainty regarding market adoption of products; uncertainty regarding third party market projections; market volatility; competition; litigation; and those other factors described in our risk factors set forth in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. We undertake no obligation to update the forward-looking statements contained herein or to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date hereof, other than as may be required by applicable law.

Media & Investor Relations
Roderick de Greef
Chief Financial Officer
(425) 686-6002
[email protected]

SOURCE BioLife Solutions, Inc.