Cellular Origins Acquires ACTIA Platform IP to Enhance Automated Cell Therapy Manufacturing

Cellular Origins recently announced the acquisition of the ACTIA (Autologous Cell Therapy Industrial Automation) Platform IP, developed by Geoff Hodge whilst CEO of SOTIO Biotech US. The ACTIA Platform complements Cellular Origins’ existing approach and will accelerate and expand R&D efforts to further develop the Company’s robotic solution for automated cell therapy manufacturing, Constellation.

Launched in May 2023, Constellation combines advanced automation robotics with aseptic fluid-handling technologies in a highly flexible and scalable system. Uniquely, the platform physically and digitally integrates with a wide range of existing bioprocessing equipment, enabling users to adopt its use without requiring significant changes to either the workflow or equipment, alleviating the risks and time that come with process redevelopment.

The ACTIA Platform is focused on the needs of autologous cell therapy manufacturing and allows for massively multiplex and distributed industrial automation. With this technology, users can selectively increase capacity to target process bottlenecks, typically the expansion step, alongside random access to any process step or patient dose. Ultimately, the platform enables truly industrialized, flexible, and highly efficient manufacture.

The acquisition of the ACTIA IP platform continues the ongoing drive by Cellular Origins to address the challenges of manufacturing cell therapies at scale. Complementing the company’s recent partnership with the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult to develop unique strategies for seamless integration of bioprocessing equipment, the ACTIA platform will enable cell therapy developers access to best-in-class unit operations within the Constellation platform. Taken together, these key developments will support customers achieve faster routes to scalable manufacture of cell therapies whilst simultaneously reducing risk.

Dr. Edwin Stone, CEO at Cellular Origins, said “The acquisition of the ACTIA Platform IP shows Cellular Origins continued dedication to creating the most efficient, cost effective and scalable solution to cell therapy manufacturing. Combined with ongoing R&D, this expansion of our technology and IP portfolio underpins our commitment to develop Constellation to solve the challenge of affordable, large-scale production of cell therapies that meets the needs of our customers and ensures we can offer the right solution for long-term success.”

Geoffrey Hodge, former CEO of SOTIO Biotech US and Scientific Advisor, Cellular Origins, added “The approach of stringing together sequential unit ops, as we did to manufacture recombinant proteins, does not meet the unique needs of autologous cell therapy. Constellation has already demonstrated its capabilities to transform manufacturing of cell therapies, offering an easily accessible route to cost- and space-efficient, large-scale production. ACTIA further augments Constellation, and the ambition to revolutionize cell therapy manufacturing and deliver life-saving therapies to more patients than ever before.”

Cellular Origins, a TTP Company, is focused on enabling scalable, reproduceable and efficient manufacture of cell and gene therapies (CGTs). Despite the incredible potential for CGTs in the treatment of disease, emerging therapies remain unavailable to many patients due to insufficient expertise and manufacturing capability for affordable production. With an increasing number of approved CGTs currently reaching the market, the disconnect between innovative therapies and manufacturing capabilities has led to an urgent need for solutions that provide large-scale access to cost-effective, next-generation therapeutics. Created to provide therapeutic developers and CDMOs access to the equipment they want, at the scale they need, Cellular Origins is bringing advanced automation from the industry 4.0 revolution to the forefront of CGT.

Cellular Origins’ Constellation is a closed, configurable, robotic platform that enables scalable, reproduceable, cost-effective and space efficient advanced therapy manufacture, consisting of highly flexible mobile robots with proprietary future-proofed, automated effectors for sterile fluid transfer. The modular platform can be seamlessly integrated into new and existing workflows with minimal changes, alleviating the need for process redevelopment without constraining innovation. For more information, visit https://cellularorigins.com/.