A partnership involving a medical school, a non-profit organization, and a biotech company have formed a partnership for the development and manufacture of an accessible and commercially viable hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) manufacturing platform for diseases like sickle cell disease (SCD). The alliance combines Trenchant BioSystems’ technology for automating patient-specific cell and gene therapy (CGT) processes, the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School’s expertise on blood stem cell processes, and Caring Cross’s expertise in increasing patient access.
The collaboration will focus on developing a gene-modified stem cell manufacturing process with Trenchant’s AutoCell automated CGT manufacturing platform that is designed to be scalable and operate at place-of-care in an ISO class 7 environment to increase efficiencies and decrease costs.
A key reason Trenchant BioSystems’ automated CGT manufacturing platform was selected is its use of a microbubble separation approach as an alternative to immunomagnetic bead-based separation for stem cell gene therapies, point out officials at Caring Cross and Chan Medical School. In addition, AutoCell has a small footprint and significantly fewer facility requirements, important factors for lowering the cost of these therapies, adds Jon Ellis, CEO, Trenchant BioSystems.