Cellular Origins, a TTP Company focused on enabling scalable, cost-effective, and efficient manufacture of cell and gene therapies (CGTs), entered into a collaborative partnership with ScaleReady, a joint venture between Bio-Techne, Fresenius Kabi and Wilson Wolf that brings together process development expertise, tools, and technologies for scalable CGT manufacturing. The partnership aims to automate portions of ScaleReady’s CGT manufacturing workflow by using Cellular Origin’s robotic system for sterile liquid transfer.

In a statement, ScaleReady said it believes simplicity and repeatability are the key to practical scale out of CGT manufacturing, and the integration of Cellular Origins’ robotic system will advance that objective. One area for improvement is the industry’s reliance on labor to facilitate sterile interconnections, which creates complexities and introduces risk of error.

Cellular Origins’ and ScaleReady’s first project will be to standardize and automate interconnections between the modules of ScaleReady’s G-Rex, a manufacturing platform used by therapy developers internationally to produce CGTs for clinical trials, including the most recently approved commercial therapies. This integration of Cellular Origins’ robotic system aims to eliminate variability in manual connection techniques. Further projects will automate additional components of ScaleReady’s workflow, such as the robotic movement of G-Rex into and out of incubators.

Edwin Stone, CEO of Cellular Origins, said, “ScaleReady’s technologies are widely adopted in the production of advanced, cell-based therapies. This collaboration demonstrates the adaptability of our robotic system, highlighting that it can be integrated seamlessly into existing workflows and allowing therapy developers access to scalable, cost-effective advanced therapy manufacture without significant process redevelopment.”

Josh Ludwig, commercial director at ScaleReady, said, “Our partnership with Cellular Origins is an important step towards ScaleReady’s mission to simplify and standardize CGT manufacture. Solving the liquid handling problem and proving how amenable a simple, modular, and scalable approach is to automation allows the field to see a path forward to economies of scale. Through this partnership, we plan to create a viable pathway using cell therapies for larger patient indications and front-line treatments by enabling therapy developers to implement automation when it makes the most sense, and when their products require it.”