Vitrafy Extends US Blood Network With Versiti Platelet Partnership

Versiti Joins Vitrafy’s Platelet Programme

Vitrafy Life Sciences Ltd (ASX:VFY) is adding one of the US Midwest’s major blood networks to its cryopreservation development effort, partnering with non-profit Versiti Blood Health to advance no-wash platelet preservation. The collaboration gives Vitrafy a third US civilian blood-network partner, although unlike its existing Vitalant and Hoxworth relationships, this programme is specifically centred on platelets.

Versiti operates 42 fixed collection centres and supplies more than 400 hospitals across Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin. Vitrafy will initially place two cryopreservation freezing units at Versiti’s Blood Research Institute in Milwaukee, where the organisations will contribute resources to test the company’s ecosystem within Versiti’s platelet workflows.

94.4% Recovery Result Underpins Development

The partnership follows a Phase II in-vitro platelet study by the United States Army Institute of Surgical Research. Vitrafy says its 3% DMSO no-wash protocol achieved 94.4% mean post-thaw platelet recovery in that study, a result the company is now taking into a civilian blood-network setting.

That figure comes from an in-vitro study rather than an approved clinical or commercial platelet product. Vitrafy explicitly states that use of its ecosystem for cryopreserved platelets remains in development and is subject to US regulatory requirements. Versiti also intends to explore possible applications across other blood products, including red blood cells, but the announcement does not establish a commercial supply agreement.

Free Equipment Supports FY2027 Device Target

The two units will be supplied without charge, meaning the initial placement will not generate revenue for Vitrafy. The company will, however, fund certain verification and validation services carried out by Versiti on its behalf as part of the FDA medical device listing process for the Guardion cryopreservation freezer.

Those activities relate to currently approved cryopreserved blood products such as plasma, with Vitrafy targeting completion of its US medical device listing in FY2027. The target is a regulatory milestone, not an approval already secured, and the filing provides no financial value for the partnership or timetable beyond that financial-year objective.

For Vitrafy, the immediate value of the arrangement lies in expanding the settings in which its system can be evaluated and validated. The more consequential question is whether work at Versiti can move beyond free equipment placements and development activity into a cleared device, repeatable blood-bank workflows and eventual commercial revenue.