Charles River Laboratories, a drug development and manufacturing services provider headquartered in Wilmington, Massachusetts, has partnered with Australian biotechnology company Magellan Stem Cells to support development of its stem cell therapies, including an investigational treatment for osteoarthritis.

Under the collaboration, Charles River will provide viral safety testing using current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) next-generation sequencing (NGS). The testing is intended to support product quality and regulatory readiness as Magellan advances its allogeneic, off-the-shelf stem cell therapy candidate Zelestrocel.

Magellan has completed Phase I/II clinical trials of Zelestrocel and is preparing for a pivotal Phase III program, according to the company. It also has vertically integrated manufacturing into its development pathway, with its Melbourne, Australia facility holding GMP certification from the country’s Therapeutic Goods Administration.

NGS-based testing can support characterization and detection of viral contaminants in biopharmaceutical products. Charles River offers testing and development services for cell and gene therapies, including cell bank characterization and viral safety testing.

In July 2026, Charles River announced a separate collaboration with Arovella Therapeutics to provide GMP NGS services for cell bank characterization and viral safety testing of clinical batches of ALA-101, an investigational CAR-iNKT cell therapy.

Last month, Charles River also reported completing an automated manufacturing suite for its bacterial endotoxin testing cartridges, which the company said increased production capacity and improved manufacturing quality metrics.