Anthony Nolan Cell Therapy and Laboratory Services is delighted to announce their newest partnership with start-up MicrofluidX.
MicrofluidX will be developing its bioprocessing technology using high-quality, ethically sourced starting material from healthy adult donors. The cells provided by Anthony Nolan will be used to validate MicrofluidX’s proprietary technology for the purposes of cell and gene therapy process development and manufacturing.
The results will allow MicrofluidX to demonstrate the potential benefits that their technology can bring to accelerate development and translation of new cell and gene therapies to clinical trials, at a fraction of the cost that current tools can enable. This will help accelerate the development of new treatments and make them more accessible, particularly for patients from marginalised backgrounds who may have fewer pathways available to them.
Anthony Nolan established the world’s first stem cell register in 1974. Since then, the organisation has grown to support research and development of new therapies to improve patient outcomes and quality of life. Its Cell Therapy and Laboratory Services have become renowned for its sourcing and supply of donor starting materials to the cell and gene therapy industry. With an extensive list of global clients, Anthony Nolan is helping to transform the life sciences industry and its researchers to unlock new treatments, including personalised medicines.
MicrofluidX is a UK based developer of the Cyto EngineTM an innovative bioreactor platform designed to address the disconnects between cell biology research and industrialised cell therapy manufacturing. Using principles of microfluidics, the Cyto EngineTM bioreactors seamlessly scale from small volume research tools to GMP manufacturing capabilities, accelerating the development of next generation cell and gene therapies.
Daniel Gibson, Director of Cell & Gene Therapy Services at Anthony Nolan, says:
“Our partnership with MicrofluidX represents a major step in achieving our organisational aim of equity. Our work looks to ensure all patients have the best access to treatment for blood cancers or blood disorders, regardless of background or circumstance. We are optimistic and excited at the prospect of more cost-effective therapies resulting from MicrofluidX’s research, making treatment more accessible for all.”
Antoine Espinet, CEO at MicrofluidX, says:
“By partnering with Anthony Nolan we know that the cells we are using to develop our technologies are ethically sourced and of the highest quality. As we begin testing the Cyto EngineTM ‘s capabilities with our early access partners manufacturing processes we knew we needed a reliable partner to supply the starting material. We’re very excited to work with the expert team at Anthony Nolan who understand our needs completely.”
This partnership will supercharge MicrofluidX in its work to address two of the biggest challenges in the field, ultra-high manufacturing costs and scalability. The cells provided by Anthony Nolan for use in this research will be donated by healthy adult donors, who consented to donate their cells for research and manufacturing.