“Conventional cell-harvesting methods retain magnetic labels which result in poor viability, loss of cellular function and undesired changes in cell morphology,” a spokesperson from Woburn, Massachusetts-based downstream tech firm Quad Technologies told Biopharma-Reporter.com.
But the firm says its latest product, the MagCloudz Streptavidin Cell Separation Kit, can offer biologics makers high protein loading, high biotin binding capacity and improved cell viability, purity and recovery.
“The cell separation protocol for the MagCloudz Streptavidin kit is straightforward, readily scalable, and takes approximately two hours start-to-finish,” CEO Sean Kevlahan told us.
The kit “is the first commercially available product using Quad Technologies’ QuickGel technology,” Kevlahan continued, “which is a unique, dissolvable hydrogel that enables the high efficiency purification and release of cells or proteins of interest.
“The greatest advantage of QuickGel is that the dissolution process does not affect cell phenotype or viability as other coating chemistries do,” while also allowing high efficiency, purity and viability of target cell populations.
"Immunotherapy, cell therapy and cell separation are significant growth areas within regenerative medicine and all face challenges around scalability," said Ian Ratcliffe from Keswick Ventures, a backer of Quad Tecnologies. "The availability of the MagCloudz kits will revolutionize the cell separation market and provide researchers with the speed, quality and adaptability they need."