Three critical steps in TCR-T manufacturing achieved on Terumo bioreactor

Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies announced that University of Chicago researchers have successfully completed all three critical steps in T cell receptor (TCR) T cell therapy (TCR-T) manufacturing — activation, transduction and expansion — with a single Quantum Flex Cell Expansion System small bioreactor.

In their study, 10 million peripheral blood mononuclear cells were activated, transduced with a gamma retroviral vector, and expanded on Quantum Flex to up to nine billion cells in 10 days while maintaining high viability.

“The ability to automate TCR-T cell processing end-to-end on a single bioreactor is a foundational advance in the evolution of cell therapy manufacturing,” said Richard Koya, professor of medicine and director of cGMP Vector Development and Production at the University of Chicago’s Cancer Center.

Koya, who serves as a paid consultant to Terumo, will present the full dataset at the upcoming Advanced Therapies 2025 conference, Nov. 18-19 in Philadelphia.

“It opens the door to faster, more consistent manufacturing for therapies that could benefit patients with solid tumors and other hard-to-treat diseases,” said Thinle Chodon, co-director of the Cellular and Tissue Based Processing cGMP Core Facility at the University of Chicago and co-investigator of the study.

According to the announcement, the end-to-end automated process offers a comprehensive alternative to fragmented, manual workflows with a closed, GMP-friendly workflow. Terumo’s Quantum Flex 3-in-1 workflow integrates activation, transduction, and expansion in a single closed system could accelerate development of next-generation T cell therapies, the company contends.