Cellares, an Integrated Development and Manufacturing Organization (IDMO) and an expert in automated cell therapy manufacturing, and Sony Corporation, a technology pioneer driving innovation in the field of flow cytometry, have partnered to jointly develop and integrate advanced flow cytometry-based cell analysis and sorting solutions into the Cellares Cell Shuttle, an automated cell therapy manufacturing platform.
 
Sony will leverage technologies from its CGX10 Cell Isolation System to develop new solutions. Combining the two technologies is expected to make Cellares’ Cell Shuttle a truly automated, end-to-end cell therapy manufacturing solution with cell analysis and sorting capabilities.
 
Cellares’ Cell Shuttle is an automated, scalable, and integrated manufacturing platform designed to meet the rigorous demands of clinical and commercial-scale manufacturing, the Cell Shuttle automates and integrates all cell therapy manufacturing unit operations within a closed, ISO 8 environment. This integration and automation provide unprecedented scale, with the ability to manufacture 16 cell therapy batches in parallel, while reducing batch price by up to 50%, compared with conventional CDMO batch pricing, and reducing opportunities for contamination and operator error.
 
Sony’s CGX10 cell isolation system has the capability to sort cells at high speed, purity, and viability in a closed system, which makes it an ideal solution for cell therapy applications. Integrating its sorting capabilities with the Cellares Cell Shuttle is expected to 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.
 
Cellares and Sony will also jointly develop enhanced cell analysis capabilities for the Cell Shuttle, based on technology developed by Sony for its CGX10 system. The integration of Sony’s cell analysis capabilities on the Cell Shuttle is expected to further streamline the end-to-end automation of the cell therapy manufacturing processes, allowing for online real-time monitoring of cell quality and quantity. This is expected to improve the overall efficiency and scalability of cell therapy manufacturing processes, with a potential to further reduce costs and vein-to-vein times. This strengthens Cellares’ Cell Shuttle technology platform and its position as it plans to be the de-facto new standard for clinical and commercial scale cell therapy manufacturing for the majority of cell modalities.
 
“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 at Sony Corporation.
 
“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,” remarked Fabian Gerlinghaus, CEO and co-founder of 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.”