Triumvira expands T cell manufacturing by setting up shop at AmplifyBio

Triumvira will expand its autologous T-cell manufacturing network by placing its staff and tech within AmplifyBio’s facilities in South San Francisco, California.

Within the cell therapy space, an ongoing topic of debate is whether to build an inhouse manufacturing network or use a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO).

But for Triumvira Immunologics, a third option has been exercised: a pact for Triumvira to manufacture its own cell therapy candidates within a facility in South San Francisco run by contract research organization (CRO) AmplifyBio.

Image: DepositPhotos/ellandar

“We are not using them as a CDMO but instead leveraging our own resources and expertise for our own personnel to manufacture our TAC01-HER2 solid tumor candidate at AmplifyBio’s facilities,” a Triumvira spokesperson told BioProcess Insider.

“Specialized facilities are capital intensive otherwise in short supply; this arrangement allows us to use our highly trained personnel who are experts in our particular process in the most efficient manner.”

No financial details have been disclosed.

TAC tech

Triumvira Immunologics has a pipeline of autologous products based on its T-cell Antigen Coupler (TAC) technology.

The products use Lonza’s Cocoon platform, an automated and closed technology  for patient-scale cell therapy manufacturing, designed to overcome manufacturing challenges associated with patient-scale personalized medicines.

“This is a truly scalable technology for automating cell therapy manufacturing and we believe the Cocoon will enable us to deliver a high-quality TAC01-HER2 cell therapy product for each patient in need,” we were told.

“First we collect white blood cells from the patient and, outside the body, we filter out a kind of immune cell called T cells. Then inside the Cocoon, we engineer those T cells to have a TAC receptor which helps them recognize and kill cancer cells that have HER2 on their surface. The modified T cells are what we call ‘TAC T cells.’

“We expand them inside the Cocoon over a few days before reintroducing them to the patient. The manufacturing process that takes place in the Cocoon replaces what would be an otherwise manual and time-consuming operation. Once this processing is done, the TAC-T cells are reinfused into the patient. This whole process takes about 21-24 days to complete.”

AmplifyBio’s facility is Triumvira’s second manufacturing location after the firm inked a deal in 2018 to make clinical material at the C3i Center in Montreal, Canada.

“Under that partnership, C3i is manufacturing cell therapy product for our clinical trials with their own staff, in a traditional CDMO fashion. We’re pleased to work with C3i given their specific expertise in cell therapies, including cancer immunotherapies.”