Thermo Fisher Introduces New Electroporation System for Large-Scale Cell Therapy Development and Manufacturing

Thermo Fisher Scientific introduced a new large-volume electroporation system on March 16, 2022 that is intended to enable the development of cell therapies. The system’s goal is to allow cell therapy developers to move more easily from clinical development to commercial manufacturing.

The Gibco CTS Xenon Electroporation System features a closed, highly flexible design to facilitate gene modifications without the use of traditional viral vectors. According to a company press release, the electroporation approach enables the introduction of a payload into a cell by temporarily increasing cell permeability; this is done using an electrical pulse.

Unlike existing large-volume cell therapy electroporation solutions on the market, Thermo Fisher’s new system features programmable, flexible electroporation conditions and offers cell therapy developers full control to optimize a variety of hard-to-transfect cell types and payloads. The system can be used as a standalone technology, or it can be integrated with the Gibco CTS Rotea Counterflow Centrifugation System as part of a modular, closed, and automated cell therapy manufacturing workflow, according to Thermo Fisher.

The CTS Xenon Electroporation System can transfect up to 2.5e9 cells in 25 mL in a sterile system. This transfection capacity enables rapid and efficient non-viral transfection for clinical manufacturing applications. In addition, the system delivers up to 80% cell viability and 90% gene knockout transfection, allowing scale up from the small-volume Neon Transfection System without the need to re-optimize the electroporation parameters. Thus, the system is designed to easily transition from benchtop to clinic, according to the company.

“We launched the CTS Rotea System in 2020 as part of our strategy to deliver fit-for-purpose cell therapy solutions that can easily scale from development to commercialization. Adding the CTS Xenon Electroporation System to our end-to-end workflow will help customers overcome manufacturing challenges that hinder production, enabling them to bring life-saving therapies to patients faster,” said Amy Butler, president of biosciences, Thermo Fisher Scientific, in a company press release.

Source: Thermo Fisher Scientific