Packaging assembly for storing tissue and cellular material

A packaging assembly for storing implantable material, comprising:

• a pouch formed of a flexible polymeric material and defining a compartment, a first end of the pouch configured to be transitioned from an open configuration to a sealed configuration, the first end defining a first opening via which the pouch is configured to receive implantable material into the compartment in the open configuration, the pouch defining a second opening opposite the first opening,
• the implantable material including viable cells and disposed within a preservation solution within the compartment;
• and
• a port coupled to the pouch such that at least one of a biological solution, a rinsing solution or the preservation solution can be introduced into or withdrawn from the compartment through the second opening via the port without removal of the implantable material from the pouch through the port,
• wherein the pouch is configured, when the first end is in the sealed configuration, to be cut to define a third opening for withdrawal of the implantable material from the compartment through the third opening.