Northwest Biotherapeutics (NWBio) (OTCQB:NWBO), a biotechnology company developing DCVax personalised immune therapies for solid tumour cancers, announced on Thursday a collaboration with the UK National Health Service Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) to support production of the company's experimental cancer vaccine DCVax-L.

Under the agreement, NHS Blood and Transplant's Therapeutic Apheresis Services (TAS) and Cellular and Molecular Therapies (CMT) teams are supporting the UK production of DCVax-L -- a treatment for Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), an aggressive form of primary brain cancer, as well as all solid tumours.

Working in collaboration with Northwest Biotherapeutics and Advent Bioservices, NHSBT's specialist teams are supporting key stages of the manufacturing. TAS is carrying out leukapheresis procedures to collect the immune cell starting material needed for the DCVax-L treatment, forming part of the personalised manufacturing process for an individual patient. Leukapheresis is an established procedure in which blood is collected and separated so that specific white blood cells can be obtained, while the remaining blood components are returned to the patient.

CMT is providing specialist cell processing and handling of cellular material to support the onward pathway.

The collaboration brings together this clinical and operational expertise with the work of NWBio and Advent Bioservices in developing DCVax-L in the UK.