BioCentriq® and Kytopen® Expand Partnership to Expedite Impact of Transformative Gene-Editing Technology on Cell Therapy Manufacturing

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Jun 06, 2023, 08:28 ET

NEWARK, N.J., June 6, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BioCentriq®, a strategic CDMO (contract development and manufacturing organization) specializing in cell therapy announced today that it has expanded its partnership with Kytopen, a Cambridge based startup spun out of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Flowfect Discover™ - Automated high-throughput gene editing device for discovery and optimization of cell therapy and living medicines. The Flowfect Discover™ enables the predictive scaling of engineered cells to solve cell therapy manufacturing problems at the discovery stage. The device uses Kytopen's patented electro-mechanical continuous flow to enable the delivery of genome engineering materials, such as CRISPR, to cells.

The partnership was originally announced in March of 2021. In the initial phase of the collaboration, the Kytopen and BioCentriq teams worked together to test transfection of T-cells using Kytopen's Flowfect® technology and the potential impact to both autologous and allogeneic cell therapies of integrating this novel transfection technology with other steps in the manufacturing process.

At the conclusion of the evaluation, BioCentriq published promising results in a white paper entitled Efficient, Large-Scale Transfection of T-Cells Using Flowfect® Technology.

The extension of the partnership with BioCentriq will expand therapeutic developers' access to a leading non-viral cell engineering method by combining BioCentriq's process development expertise with Kytopen's Flowfect Discover™ platform. This establishes BioCentriq as a preferred development and manufacturing partner for developers looking to utilize Kytopen's Flowfect® technology for rapid and automated optimization prior to scale-up.

"BioCentriq was founded to help biotech companies with emerging therapeutics bring those life-altering medicines to clinic as quickly as possible while improving their commercial readiness and reducing costs," said Haro Hartounian, Ph.D. and CEO, BioCentriq. "Partnerships with companies like Kytopen allow us to validate the use of novel tools and technologies and introduce them to therapeutic developers who can potentially benefit from their adoption."

Kytopen's proprietary Flowfect® platform utilizes electro-mechanical transfection during continuous flow, enabling a highly efficient and precise delivery of genome engineering materials to cells. Flowfect Discover™ provides researchers and developers with an invaluable tool for optimizing the delivery of genetic material in a cost-effective and small-volume settings. This allows for thorough fine-tuning of protocols before transitioning to large-scale development and manufacturing, ensuring a seamless and successful journey from research to production. By harnessing this cutting-edge technology, Kytopen empowers the creation of living medicines that hold tremendous potential for transforming healthcare.

"The Flowfect^® platform is a transformative solution that eliminates the complexity of gene delivery, seamlessly connecting discovery, development, and manufacturing with a single, flexible, and scalable platform," stated Paulo A. Garcia, Ph.D., CEO and co-founder of Kytopen. "Our goal is to increase patient access to life-saving cell therapies by addressing critical biomanufacturing challenges right from the discovery stage, eliminating scalability barriers and reducing costs; our partnership with BioCentriq serves as a catalyst in achieving this vision at an accelerated pace."

"We are thrilled to partner with BioCentriq and work together to bring the Flowfect^® technology from discovery through manufacturing to therapeutic developers to accelerate and enable the next generation of curative cell therapies," said Bethany Grant, M.S., CTO at Kytopen. "By working together, we aim to transform the availability of curative treatments to patients in need."

About BioCentriq

BioCentriq is a full-service, collaborative CDMO for cell and gene therapy, focusing on all stages of process development and clinical manufacturing. It was purchased by GC of South Korea for $73M. With over 90 scientists, engineers, analysts, and manufacturing specialists, the company has established quality systems and the infrastructure required to support the release of autologous and allogeneic drug products. For more information, visit BioCentriq.com.

About Kytopen

Kytopen is an MIT startup developing platforms to accelerate the discovery, development, and manufacturing of gene-modified cell therapies. The scalable Flowfect® solution combines microfluidics and automation to make this process easier, faster, and more cost-effective than the state-of-the art solutions. In 2017, Dr. Cullen Buie (Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT) and Dr. Paulo Garcia founded Kytopen. Together they co-invented proprietary Flowfect® technology for high-throughput genetic modification of cells. Kytopen products are provided for Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic or clinical procedures.

SOURCE BioCentriq, Inc.