CAR-T Therapy Manufacturing With The ekko™ Acoustic Cell Processing System

Chimeric Antigen Receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapies have spearheaded a renaissance in immunology and regenerative medicine. As these therapies gain approval, bottlenecks move from the clinic to the manufacturing. Here, manufacturing technologies that provide consistent, closed, and automated solutions to unit operations are required to enable robust and affordable therapeutic production.

In a typical CAR-T manufacturing process, T cells are selected, activated, genetically modified with a CAR, and then expanded to achieve the necessary dose requirements. Upon expansion, cells are harvested, concentrated, washed and then resuspended in formulation buffer. Here we explore how the ekko™ Acoustic Cell Processing System enables user-friendly automation of the harvest, wash, and concentration steps required to prepare T cells for preservation. The ekko™ System supports the gentle processing of cells while removing cell debris and spent culture media from the target cell population.