Fig. 2: Technological innovations for automated cell manufacturing.
From: Potential solutions for manufacture of CAR T cells in cancer immunotherapy
Novel manufacturing devices and principles to enable automated CAR cell production. CAR T cells are often produced manually but first semi-automated all-in-one bioreactors are available for the GMP compliant cell manufacturing. For a high-throughput production of autologous products, one solution is using parallelized manufacturing devices. Another principle is connecting different manufacturing devices performing specific sub-processes of the CAR cell manufacturing automatically in process streets. For full automation, these advancements in manufacturing require novel engineering solutions in the fields of real time monitoring and in-line quality control technologies (non-invasive, label-free, contact-free). In addition, automated high-throughput manufacturing of CAR cell products needs the implementation of real-time capable data processing systems, the digital communication of all involved devices and digital representatives of the system (digital twins). All these technical innovations must be closely co-developed and implemented with respect to the biological advancements in CAR immunotherapy and with the requirements of regulatory agencies.
