June 6, 2023 -- BioCentriq, a contract development and manufacturing organization specializing in cell therapy, and Kytopen, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology-based startup, on Tuesday announced that they are expanding their partnership.
The collaboration, which began in March 2021, started with the firms working together to test transfection for T cells using Kytopen's Flowfect platform, as well as analyze the impact of integrating this transfection technology into the manufacturing process for autologous and allogeneic cell therapies.
The expansion aims to combine BioCentriq's process development with Kytopen's Flowfect Discover platform, increasing therapeutic developers' access to a non-viral cell engineering method, according to the firms.
The Flowfect platform uses electromechanical transfection during continuous flow, which enables efficient and precise delivery of genome engineering materials to cells, the firms said. Furthermore, the Flowfect Discover automated high-throughput gene editing device enables researchers and developers to optimize the delivery of genetic material cost-effectively at a smaller scale, allowing for a smoother transition from research to production, the companies added.