Room-temperature cell therapy storage could be a game-changer for patient access

Cold-chain logistics have long been one of the biggest headaches in delivering cell-based therapies — a single temperature slip can destroy a dose worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the infrastructure required adds tens of billions of dollars annually to the healthcare system. Now, ARPA-H's BioStabilization Systems (BoSS) program is taking aim at that problem with an ambitious goal: making cell therapies storable at room temperature, much like aspirin.

To help get there, ARPA-H has selected ATCC to serve as an independent verification and validation (IV&V) partner. ATCC will supply standardized cell banks and benchmarks to BoSS technology developers, then objectively assess how each approach preserves cell quality, reproducibility, scalability, and ease of use — giving ARPA-H the data it needs to compare competing solutions.

By the Numbers

• A single adverse temperature excursion can destroy a cell therapy dose worth hundreds of thousands of dollars
• Cold-chain infrastructure adds tens of billions of dollars per year in costs to the healthcare system
• BoSS aims to take the "200-degree leap" — from -196°C toward room temperature — for cell therapy storage

Why it matters: If room-temperature stabilization becomes viable, it could fundamentally reshape how cell therapies are distributed — reducing costs, eliminating cold-chain failures, and expanding access to advanced medicines in low-resource settings where refrigerated transport simply isn't an option.