Milestone Reached in Cell and Gene Therapy Robotic Automation and Manufacturing Collaboration

Cellular Origins reports that the company completed the first phase of its collaboration with Fresenius Kabi designed to help scale the manufacturing of cell and gene therapies using advanced robotics and cell processing technologies.

This milestone marks the completion of the digital and physical integration of Fresenius Kabi’s Cue^R Cell Processing System into Cellular Origins’ Constellation^R CGT robotic manufacturing platform. Together, note officials at Cellular Origins, the companies have developed a new and integrated approach to robotic-operated cell processing, following the signing of the original agreement on October 16, 2024.

The integration of the Cue and Constellation systems is designed to deliver end-to-end automation, says Cellular Origins’ CEO Edwin Stone, PhD, who adds that this results in significantly reduced manual intervention. Both Cellular Origins and Fresenius Kabi have now completed studies with human T cells that confirm that the Cue system can reliably execute complex and precise workflows, according to Stone. 

“It has been widely known that manufacturing costs and variability are major challenges to the widespread adoption of cell and gene therapies. These challenges have limited broader access to advanced therapies. Reducing manual touchpoints is an important part of supporting more consistent and scalable manufacturing processes,” he explains.

“Cellular Origins is forming strong relationships with central companies like Fresenius Kabi to enable the CGT industry to robotically automate whilst maintaining its existing processes. Achieving this milestone within twelve months reflects the strong technical alignment between the teams and supports our progress toward future system development, ultimately helping to enable broader patient access to advanced therapies.”

“This milestone demonstrates how automated precision, efficiency, and reliability can improve processes and established workflows, reduce manual labor, and help make advanced therapies more accessible to patients worldwide,” points out Christian Hauer, PhD, president of MedTech at Fresenius Kabi. 

Robotics-operated automation of these processes is a critical step towards fully automated, clinically and commercially relevant cell and gene therapy manufacturing. Full automation removes manual labor, therefore reducing cost, variability, and the potential for human error, while opening the pathway to achieve manufacturing success at commercial scale. It also provides a fully digital chain of custody, enabling the potential to deploy advanced optimization that could increase productivity and improve the process.

Following the initial stage, the collaboration will now focus on scaling manufacturing for clinical and commercial manufacturing. The development team will also integrate Cellular Origins’ Constellation into Fresenius Kabi’s wider cell therapy technologies portfolio, including the Lovo^R cell processing system.