ThermoGenesis, a supplier of enabling technologies for the processing and storage of stem cells and other biological tissues, and TotipotentRx, a privately held  developer of  cell-based therapies in  regenerative medicine, have entered into a definitive merger agreement to form a new company called Cesca Therapeutics.

The combined company is expected to become a fully-integrated regenerative medicine company, developing clinically validated, commercially scalable point-of-care cell therapies for major therapeutic markets including orthopedic, cardiovascular and neurologic indications.

ThermoGenesis will issue approximately 12,491,000 shares of its common stock to TotipotentRx, which equals approximately $18.6 million, based on ThermoGenesis' closing stock price on July 15. The agreement has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

"Our products will give healthcare providers the ability to consistently execute every step of the cell therapy treatment process, at the patient's bedside, in less than an hour and at a fraction of the cost of typical cell therapy models,” said Matthew T. Plavan, chief executive officer of ThermoGenesis, explaining that the merger will allow it to commercialize these new cell therapies by leveraging TotipotentRx’s CRO division and a cell therapy partnership with Fortis Healthcare System.

TotiRx is a regenerative medicine development company that has eight autologous cell therapies in various stages of clinical development targeting areas of high unmet medical need, including osteoarthritis, avascular necrosis, acute myocardial infarction and critical limb ischemia.

Plavan will be chief executive officer of the new company and Kenneth L. Harris, chairman and chief executive officer of TotipotentRx, will be president and join the board of directors.