Scaling Up Biotherapeutics: A Celltrio – Thermo Fisher Scientific Collaboration

Yesterday, February 6, 2023, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., the world leader in providing scientific services, and Celltrio, Inc., a leading provider of robotics-based solutions for the life sciences sector, announced their partnership to provide customers using biotherapeutics with a fully automated cell culture system.

To fill a crucial gap in the market for high-throughput automated cell line culture and maintenance, the cooperation will incorporate Thermo Scientific^TM Momentum^TM Workflow Scheduling Software with the Celltrio^TM RoboCell^TM cell line automation technology. Momentum^TM software will now be used by Celltrio, Inc.‘s RoboCell^TM systems sold in Europe for job scheduling and data management. Moreover, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., will immediately assume sole ownership of sales, setup, and support for the RoboCell^TM system in Europe, with potential expansion into additional regions in the future.

Thermo Scientific™ Momentum™ Workflow Scheduling Software

Using the software for Thermo Scientific^TM Momentum^TM Workflow Scheduling, you may achieve new levels of automation performance. Users may develop, perform, and monitor scientific processes and workflows using this market-leading software platform in a robust yet user-friendly visual environment. It achieves exceptional performance thanks to its user-friendly scheduling interface, sophisticated data-driven decision-making capabilities, superior connection, and adaptable simulation modes. The toolkit that comes with Momentum software also enables real-time, adaptable, autonomous data integration into workflows.

The product actually exists in two versions: one single mover type and the other is a multi-robot / plate mover. In addition to having a unique software licensing model allowing both the accessibility to the entire current driver library on one license key and the option to keep current subscription package for updates, Momentum^TM features a cornucopia of more than 300, diverse, and ever-expanding instrument driver library, an event-driven scheduling optimized for performance, the ability to run multiple methods simultaneously, a real-time, on-the-fly decision making built-in algorithm, an intuitive drag-and-drop process creation, instrument pooling, instrument hot-swapping, intelligent decision-based error handling, manual step operation, availability of both simulation mode and production mode, and the ever-needed access to user community forum for inquiries and discussions with other users.

Momentum^TM has a slew of advanced functionality with user-defined plate and well data variables for real-time use within methods that can be updated on-the-fly, the ability to schedule variable based decision steps, a strongly enabled addition and execution capabilities of new and different work within a running process, such powerful process flow control tools that remove need for “hidden” program scripts, the enabling of design and edit processes while the system is running, the expression builder that allows users to quickly build complex expressions to process data from variables, plate information and system constants for use while executing work, the ability to assign, manipulate, update and transfer plate and well information for on-the-fly use and decision-making during process execution, ready availability of software developers kits, and the feature to unify multiple islands of automation treating them as part of larger connected system.

With ensured data integrity upon usage as it is CFR21 Part 11 and CLIA compliant and since it employs open architecture with SQL database usage, Momentum^TM is one of the best products out there that is well suited for high throughput screening (HTS), biologics, large molecule (antibody) sample preparation and analysis, functional genomics and target identification, synthetic biology, high content imaging (HCI), proteomics workflows, cell and tissue (organoids-inclusive) culture, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), laboratory workflow management, sample preparation, sample extraction, closed loop and/or secondary screening, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) workflow, mass spectrometry (MS) workflow, and next-generation sequencing (NGS) analysis.

Celltrio’s RoboCell™ – The Cell Line Automation Platform

Automated Cell Line Solutions begin with 2D and 3D cell culturing, passaging, and imaging tasks and expand to full harvesting and cryogenic storage in one fully automated end-to-end system. The RoboCell™ Platform provides a standard layout and footprint that is optimized for protocols from a variety of customers. Celltrio, Inc.’s Systems Engineers are ready to assist if your requirements demand additional components or further optimization for capacity, throughput, or footprint.

RoboCell™ introduces a standard option for automating cell culturing. It is capable of handling T-flasks and micro-plates and include a single operator interface, scheduling, incubation, imaging for cell counting and confluence, a media refrigerator, peristaltic pumps, new lab ware stocking, and Celltrio, Inc.’s liquid handler which includes passaging, detaching, plating, and Air Displacement Pipetting for micropipettes and serological tubes.

RoboCell™, operating unattended and in a biosafety level 2 (BSL-2) processing environment, removes contamination sources from lab workers and eliminates human errors. RoboCell™ improves the cell culturing process while completely adapting to the laboratory process and protocols. It increases throughput and efficiency with our multi-tasking features and remote input from scientists and technicians. This frees scientists and technicians from highly labor-intensive processes so they may focus more on research, analysis, and process design.

RoboCell™ is known for its efficiency as it allows multitasking which maximizes throughput and capacity while automation reduces human errors that can delay the discovery process. It is known for its innovative task modules with advanced multitasking, utilizing existing laboratory space more efficiently. RoboCell™ ensures scalability for growth with existing Celltrio, Inc. solutions being easily adaptable to dynamic cell line development needs by simply adding task modules. Additionally, RoboCell™‘s seamless integration of standard task modules reduces cost and time to achieve cell development goals while maintaining a clean-safe environment as it automates protocols and does the processing in a BSL-2 enclosure, thus, limiting the exposure to, and reducing the introduction of contamination.

A Say from the Major Stakeholders

The full potential of biotherapy research has long been constrained by difficulties with cell line scale-up. While some components of cell line manufacture have been automated, full automation has been far from feasible. Hansjoerg Haas, Senior Director and General Manager of Laboratory Automation at Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., claims as much. Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. expects to combine the capabilities needed to make fully automated cell line culturing a reality through its partnership with Celltrio, Inc. Customers of biotherapeutics may concentrate on delivering their cutting-edge remedies to patients, paving the path for a better, healthier society, thanks to the ability to scale processes effectively.

According to Charlie Duncheon, CEO and Co-Founder of Celltrio, Inc., the complementary skill sets of Celltrio, Inc. and Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. present a strong opportunity to assist customers in getting through a difficult obstacle. By combining its end-to-end automation platform, RoboCell^TM, with Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.‘s user-friendly Momentum^TM workflow scheduling software, Celltrio, Inc. can increase the reach of RoboCell^TM and the impact of both solutions for its biotherapeutics customers, which will benefit the biopharma industry and public health.

Users of RoboCell^TM can define, run, and monitor processes and workflows with the help of the user-friendly Momentum^TM workflow scheduling software. Bidirectional communication, secure networking, and traceability are also made possible by the software’s intelligent data-driven decision-making capabilities, which also help laboratories perform better.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

With annual sales of almost $40 billion, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is the market leader in providing services to the scientific community. Its goal is to empower its users to improve the safety, health, and environment of the planet. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is here to serve its customers whether they are advancing life sciences research, resolving challenging analytical challenges, boosting lab productivity, enhancing patient health through diagnostics, or developing and producing game-changing treatments. Through our market-leading brands, which include Thermo Scientific, Applied Biosystems, Invitrogen, Fisher Scientific, Unity Lab Services, Patheon, and PPD, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.‘s global team offers an unmatched combination of cutting-edge technologies, purchasing convenience, and pharmaceutical services.

For more information about the Thermo Scientific^TM Momentum^TM Workflow Scheduling Software, please visit: thermofisher.com/order/catalog/product/MOMENTUM.

About Celltrio

Celltrio, Inc. uses the power of modularity to automate manual processes from raw cell division to harvesting cultured cells, providing the quickest route to cell culturing system automation. Customers’ procedures and protocols dictate which and how many of the tried-and-true standard task module machines, robots, and software to combine into the ideal cell culturing lab automation solution for today, with a plan for straightforward extension in the future.

Only Celltrio, Inc. has created an entire, tested line of standalone manual cell storage, culturing, and harvesting devices with the built-in capability to be automated by robots created by Celltrio, Inc. Laboratories can begin modest with one or more task module machines and grow over time as they add more machines, robotic automation, and software automation. Or, as the company had done, Celltrio, Inc. can collaborate with your business to design an entire, scalable, repeatable automated cell culturing process that will shorten the time needed to develop a drug or novel cell, cost less in terms of equipment, training, labor, and total costs, and improve precision and quality throughout the entire process by, among other things, lowering human and system errors.

Please visit the company website at celltrio.com for the complete story and specifics on both of Celltrio, Inc.‘s modular cell culturing automation and our cryogenic freezer solutions.

For more information about the Celltrio^TM RoboCell^TM cell line automation platform, please visit: www.celltrio.com/robocell. 

Engr. Dex Marco Tiu Guibelondo, BS Pharm, RPh, BS CpE

Editor-in-Chief, PharmaFEATURES