Thermo Fisher launches automated fill-finish system for cell therapy manufacturing
Thermo Fisher Scientific, a life sciences tools and services company headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts, has launched the Gibco CTS Compleo fill and finish system, an automated platform designed to streamline formulation and filling in cell therapy manufacturing.
The system is intended to address variability and contamination risks associated with manual fill-finish workflows, which have traditionally required careful handling of fragile cells in small volumes, according to the announcement. The system automates formulation and filling in a closed configuration to support consistent batch-to-batch performance and reduce manual intervention, the company contends.
Because cell therapies often begin with patient-derived cells, manufacturing workflows must accommodate variability in cell count, concentration, and viability, the company said. The system is designed to support manufacturers seeking to improve operational efficiency while maintaining sterility, dose accuracy, and product consistency as more therapies move toward commercialization, according to the announcement.
Tiffani Manolis, vice president and general manager of cell biology at Thermo Fisher, said in a statement the system addresses one of the biggest bottlenecks in cell therapy manufacturing and is designed to help customers accelerate delivery of therapies to patients.
Ryan Zapata, senior process engineer at Arsenal Biosciences, an early collaborator of the technology, said in a statement that the system “offers a platform for closed formulation and fill that can be easily integrated into existing autologous cell therapy processes” and the “intuitive protocol builder software allows for flexibility and rapid iteration in the development environment, enabling use across programs.”
The system is part of Thermo Fisher’s Gibco Cell Therapy Systems portfolio, which includes instruments, consumables, software, GMP-manufactured media and reagents, as well as viral vector systems. The launch follows the company’s April 1 announcement launching the Gibco CHOvantage GS cell line development kit, a CHO-based platform designed to compress biologics and biosimilar development timelines through an integrated transposon-based vector system and royalty-free, clinical-stage licensing model.