PHC Corporation Biomedical Division will showcase a prototype of its new cell expansion system, LiCellGrow, at the ISCT (International Society for Cell & Gene Therapy) Europe 2024 Regional Assembly to be held in Gothenburg, Sweden, from September 4 to 6. LiCellGrow, which is currently under development, is designed to enable pharmaceutical companies to visualize continuous metabolic changes in cells in real time and automatically adjust cell culture to optimize conditions for cell growth. The system is designed to increase the availability of cell and gene therapy (CGT) products by accelerating the manufacturing of the specific cells needed for these therapies.
CGT, which involves harvesting a patient’s own cells, modifying them and reintroducing them into the body to fight disease, has emerged as a promising therapeutic field for difficult-to-treat diseases such as cancer and hematological disorders. Since the patient’s own cells are used as raw material, it is crucial to maintain stable cell quality when manufacturing new cells to counteract natural fluctuations in cell properties and ensure consistent quality throughout the therapy manufacturing process. The current method of evaluating cell quality by taking samples of the final product can reduce both manufacturing efficiency and yield and increase production costs.
LiCellGrow is designed to enable more efficient and stable production of high-quality CGT products by giving researchers the ability to monitor and control the cell culture environment in real time to optimize cell quality while minimizing disruption to the therapy manufacturing process.
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The system under development utilizes proprietary in-line monitoring technology that continuously measures cell metabolites in the culture medium without the need for repeated sampling by immersing the sensors in the medium at all times. LiCellGrow then continuously and accurately measures the concentrations of two critical indicators of cell metabolism, glucose and lactate, to enable visualization of actual changes in the culture environment and cell status. Based on the real-time measurement data, the system then automatically replaces the culture medium to keep the culture environment in an optimal condition. This technology is designed to improve and homogenize cell quality while increasing cell culture efficiency and reducing costs by reducing losses. The system also features easy-to-install disposable culture bags with in-line sensors that allow cell culture in a closed system to maintain a sterile environment and can be incorporated into existing CO2 incubators , allowing researchers to conduct their studies using their preferred equipment.
LiCellGrow is an example of the synergy between the Biomedical Division and the IVD Division (hereinafter referred to as “IVD”) of PHC Corporation. The in-line monitoring technology used in this cell expansion system is a newly developed proprietary technology based on the core technology of blood glucose sensor, the main product of IVD. By combining this sensor technology of IVD with the advanced technology of the Biomedical Division to control the cell culture environment, PHC aims to provide greater added value to researchers and pharmaceutical companies.
The Biomedical Division plans to introduce LiCellGrow in the near term to support the development of manufacturing processes for CGT products worldwide and aims to accelerate the development of this system to ultimately support the commercial production of CGT products.
SOURCE: Businesswire