Cellares and Sony partner to automate cell therapy manufacturing

Self-acclaimed integrated development and manufacturing organization (IDMO) Cellares has partnered with Sony Corporation, a technology firm focused on the field of flow cytometry, to integrate advanced flow cytometry-based cell analysis and sorting solutions into the Cellares Cell Shuttle platform.

According to the firm, the Cell Shuttle is an automated, scalable, and integrated manufacturing platform designed to meet the rigorous demands of clinical and commercial-scale manufacturing. It automates and integrates all cell-therapy manufacturing unit operations within a closed environment and manufactures 16 cell-therapy batches in parallel, while reducing batch prices by up to 50%.

“The Cell Shuttle allows our clients to meet the total global patient demand for their cell therapies, and by incorporating high throughput cell analysis and sorting into the Cell Shuttle, we are extending Cellares’ automated manufacturing capabilities to meet the needs of even more cell therapy developers,” said Fabian Gerlinghaus, CEO, Cellares.

“Sony’s technology will integrate seamlessly and provide throughput and full automation for manufacturing workflows requiring cell analysis and sorting. We are pleased to work together with Sony to meet this industry need.”

Moreover, Sony will leverage technologies from its CGX10 Cell Isolation System to develop solutions. Sony’s CGX10 is a cell isolation system that can sort cells at high speed, purity, and viability in a closed system, the firm said. According to the firm, integrating CGX10 with the Cellares’ technology will enhance the efficiency and scalability of sorting-dependent cell therapies, such as regulatory T cell (Treg) and hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) based workflows in the clinical or commercial setting.

“Sony’s CGX10 is used by companies developing various types of cell therapies, for which sorting is a critical step of the manufacturing process. Incorporating high-performance cell analysis and sorting capabilities in an end-to-end automated process paves the way for scaling up the manufacturing of those therapies,” said Katsunori Ogawa, head of life science & technology business unit, Sony Corporation.

Recently, Cellares partnered with Cabaletta Bio to evaluate the latter’s cell shuttle platform through its Technology Adoption Partnership (TAP) program. The agreed upon technology transfer process is expected to produce Cabaletta’s clinical-stage CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell product candidate CABA-201, using Cellares’ cell shuttle technology.

The Californian firm has also partnered with Poseida Therapeutics, PACT Pharma, and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center to assess its cell shuttle platform through TAP in July 2021. Additionally, in August 2023, Cellares collaborated with Bristol Myers Squibb on the same, and raised $255 million to establish a cell therapy facility in Bridgewater, New Jersey.