Cellular Origins and Cytiva are collaborating to deliver automated robotic manufacturing capabilities for cell and gene therapies

• Key priority is to enable manufacturing of cell and gene therapies on an industrial scale for treatment of larger patient populations
• Collaboration will integrate Cytiva's manufacturing technologies with Cellular Origins' robotic manufacturing platform

January 16, 2025 – Cytiva, a global life sciences leader, and Cellular Origins, a TTP company dedicated to advancing scalable and cost-effective cell and gene therapy (CGT) manufacturing, have entered into a collaboration designed to revolutionize the manufacture of cell therapies. By combining Cytiva’s automated Sefia platform with Cellular Origin’s automated robotic platform, Constellation, CGT manufacturers will be able to scale up production to industrial levels without changing the process used during discovery phases or clinical trials.

The two systems will interface seamlessly, providing complete digital interconnection, including quality control systems, fully remote digital controls, and analytics. Removing the need for manual intervention between and within CGT manufacturing steps will help drive new standards of automation and manufacturing productivities.

Edwin Stone, CEO, Cellular Origins, says: “The manufacturing of cell and gene therapies must evolve from personalized and small batch medicine to industrialization if these therapies are to reach their potential for patients. At Cellular Origins, we are working to make this a reality. By collaborating with Cytiva, a leading life sciences provider, we are building a unified automation platform that can meet the sector's large-scale industrial needs.”

Emmanuel Abate, President Genomic Medicine, Cytiva, says: “Countless patients have benefited from Cytiva's cell processing systems, and we remain enthusiastic about the therapeutic potential of CAR-T. We firmly believe that automating these processes will unlock wider access to these life-changing therapies. The open nature of Cellular Origins’ design fits seamlessly with Cytiva's Sefia platform and potentially benefits a wide array of therapeutic developers. We are excited to see what the combined potential of our collaboration brings to the future of medicine.”

Currently, 47% of referred patients get access to CAR-T therapies1. The personalized nature of CAR-T therapies and their clinical effectiveness have made them a game-changer for patients. However, current manufacturing practices heavily depend on manual labor, adding to the complexity and variability of the processes. Additionally, limited manufacturing capacity, significant risk of batch failures, and the expected increase of regulatory approvals for wider indications will make it more challenging for drug developers to satisfy growing patient demand.

Cytiva and Cellular Origins recognize that a modular robotic approach will help manufacturers scale from thousands to hundreds of thousands of CGT doses per year. The combined solution will seamlessly integrate the two systems into existing customer workflows enabling customers to manufacture commercially approved and late-stage CGT products 24/7 without changing systems or redesigning approved processes. This collaboration is a continued investment in optimization with the benefits including manufacturing space efficiency, lower labor requirements, and a reduction in the overall cost of CGTs, leading to eliminating or reducing some of the major barriers to access.

This exclusive work is underway, and the first systems are set for process and biological testing in early 2025. GMP systems are expected to be available by the end of 2025 for clinical use.

Cytiva and Cellular Origins are showcasing their Sefia and Constellation platforms at Booth 435 at ATW 2025 January 20–24.

About Cellular Origins 
Cellular Origins, a TTP Company, is a developer of automated robotic manufacturing platforms for the industrialized and digitized manufacture of cell and gene therapies (CGTs). Partnering with the industry’s leading technology and manufacturing innovators, Cellular Origins uses its advanced mobile robotic ecosystem, Constellation, to fully automate cell therapy developers’ and CDMOs’ existing processes and technologies. This enables Cellular Origins to deliver GMP-compliant, fully automated solutions for scaling cell therapy manufacturing, offering unparalleled efficiency, precision, and scalability. Cellular Origins is based in Cambridge, UK. To find out more about Cellular Origins and its innovative cell therapy manufacture solutions, please visit Cellular Origins.  

About Cytiva 
At Cytiva, our mission is to advance and accelerate the development of therapeutics. With 15 000 associates in more than 40 countries, we’re driven to use our expertise and talent to achieve better flexibility, capacity, and efficiency for our customers.  Our broad and deep portfolio of tools and technologies, global scale, and best-in-class service provides critical support from discovery to delivery, for customers spanning researchers, emerging biotech, large-scale biopharma and contract manufacturers. Learn more at cytiva.com.