GE launches temperature controlled processing tech for CAR T-cell therapy

The Sefia S-2000 cell processing system – which follows on from the Sefia S-1000 launched in March last year – is a modular platform that performs isolation, harvesting, and final formulation of cellular products.

The technology can be applied to any type of cellular therapy, including chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy.

“A new software application called PremierCell enables upstream processing and at the same time, an improved version of the FlexCell software now covers both harvest and formulation steps of the downstream process,” ​GE senior product manager Bertrand Foucaut told us.

“Another new capability is that the cell environment is monitored by temperature control,” ​he added.

The Sefia S-2000 allows operators to perform centrifuge-based processes of up to 10L of cellular product and includes weight sensors to automatically measure product volume.

GE​ told us it is in discussions with a number of companies interested in installing the technology.

In April last year​, the company announced a partnership with Cellular Biomedicine Group (CBMG) to help develop CAR T and stem cell production technologies using its cell processing platform.

“The project will be focused to integrate GE technologies Sefia, Sepax 2, Xuri, SmartMax, and consumables, as well as our newly announced Asympotote VIA Freeze product line into CBMG Car-T and stem cell manufacturing process,” ​a GE spokesperson told us at the time.