LAKEWOOD, COLO., U.S.A. – Some medical researchers and scientists are looking to regenerative medicine and cellular therapy to change the way many diseases and conditions are treated.
Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies, a medical device company with customers in 130 countries, recently joined the National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering Research Center for Cell Manufacturing Technologies (CMaT). CMaT is a consortium of universities, companies and clinical collaborators brought together to develop transformative tools and technologies for the consistent, scalable and low-cost production of high-quality living therapeutic cells. The center, launched in 2017 with a $20 million investment from NSF, aims to revolutionize the treatment of cancer, heart disease, autoimmune diseases and other disorders by enabling broad use of potentially curative therapies that utilize living cells – such as immune cells and stem cells – as "drugs."
Cellular therapy is the transplantation of human cells to replace or repair damaged tissue and/or cells. With new technologies, innovative products and continued research, many different types of cells may be used as part of a therapy or treatment for a variety of diseases and conditions.
We have a strong history of automating complex processes, including the collection and processing of blood and cells. We are applying this experience to the cell and gene therapy market and committed to help drive standardization in the industry to enable breakthrough therapies with the ultimate mission of benefiting patients around the world.
-Delara Motlagh, Vice President, Cell Therapy Technologies, Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies
Two of Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies' products that will be involved in CMaT work include the Quantum® Cell Expansion System and FINIA® Fill and Finish System.
- The Quantum is an automated cell culture system designed to reduce the operator involvement of a manual process. It utilizes hollow-fiber bioreactor technology which is functionally closed and capable of functioning in a Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) environment.
- Finia is a fully automated modular system that completes the fill and finish process in formulating and aliquoting cell products prior to cryopreservation. The Finia technology automates one of the most crucial downstream processing steps in cell therapy manufacturing and facilities GMP compliance.
We are pleased to welcome Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies to this new initiative. The center will develop the technologies needed to use living cells in standardized therapies by clinicians to serve large numbers of patients worldwide. We are very excited about what this will mean to the world.
-Krishnendu Roy, Director of CMaT and the Robert A. Milton chair professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University
Beyond Georgia Tech, the center includes major university partners – the University of Georgia, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus – as well as affiliate partners such as the University of Pennsylvania, Emory University, the Gladstone Institutes and University of Oregon. Additional international academic partners from Canada, Ireland, and Japan, as well as industry and the U.S. national laboratories, are critical collaborators in the effort.
To facilitate the widespread application of these cutting-edge emerging treatments, CMaT will develop robust and scalable technologies, innovative analytical tools and engineering systems that will enable industry and clinical facilities to reproducibly manufacture efficient, safe and affordable cell-therapy products. The center will also develop improved models for a robust supply chain, storage and distribution system for these therapeutic cell products.
In addition to the consistent manufacture of cell-based therapies, the public-private CMaT initiative will also help develop a skilled, diverse and inclusive bio-manufacturing workforce through extensive education and training activities at the K-12, technical college, undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral levels.
Customer Inquiries
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