BioLife Solutions has entered into an agreement to acquire Astero Bio, a privately-held innovator in the design, development and commercialization of novel automated thawing devices, for $8 million.
 
This transaction is expected to further strengthen BioLife’s position as a supplier of disruptive, enabling solutions used in the manufacture, storage and distribution of cell and gene therapies. Astero’s ThawSTAR product line broadens BioLife’s bioproduction tools portfolio and increases the company’s footprint and engagement level in its customers’ cell and gene therapy manufacturing workflow.
 
Astero shareholders are eligible to receive up to an additional $4.5 million based on the completion of certain product development milestones and an additional $8 million over the next three years based on attainment of specific revenue targets. The transaction includes all Astero intellectual property comprised of 20 pending patents related to thawing and other cold chain technologies. The transaction is expected to close within 30 days.
 
“The addition of Astero’s products supports our mission of building a broader cell and gene therapy tools company that we believe will offer more value to our customers in the high-growth regenerative medicine market,” said Mike Rice, chief executive officer, BioLife. “Reimbursement of cell and gene therapies is evolving into a ‘pay on cure’ paradigm, with payment predicated on a positive patient response. Like our biopreservation media products, Astero products mitigate the risk of administering a non-viable dose. The synergies in this transaction include targeting the same customer base.”
 
Samuel Kent, chief executive officer, AsteroBio, will join BioLife upon closing as vice president, thaw technology sales.
 
“We are thrilled to join the BioLife team,” said Mr. Kent. “We’ve known the company and its leadership for many years and have admired their thoughtful strategy and crisp execution. As a result, CryoStor and HypoThermosol are the de facto standard for cell and gene therapy biopreservation media. No doubt the ThawSTAR product line will benefit from leveraging Biolife’s sales and marketing capabilities.”
 
The ThawSTAR product line is comprised of a family of automated thawing devices for frozen cell and gene therapies packaged in cryovials and cryobags. The products improve the quality of administration of high-value, temperature-sensitive biologic therapies to patients by standardizing the thawing process and reducing the risks of contamination and overheating, which are inherent with the use of traditional water baths. In a recently published market research report, Infinium Global Research estimates that the worldwide market for automated thawing devices will exceed $150 million by 2024, driven by the growth in the number of cell and gene therapy clinical trials and approvals.