ISCT 2018: MSC Biomanufacturing, Bioprocessing, Scale-Up, Analytics and Exosome Production Take Center Stage

Authored by Katrina Adlerz, Ph.D. Scientist, Analytical Development, RoosterBio Inc.

RoosterBio attended the International Society for Cell Therapy annual meeting, held May 2-5, 2018 in Montreal, which brought together leaders in the field including academic researchers, industry scientists, regulators, and clinicians. The society and conference focus on three key areas of translation: Academia, Regulatory, and Commercialization.

Six Roosters attended to hear the latest research and translational innovations at the scientific talks, present three different posters, and man the booth in the exhibit hall. Jon Rowley, founder and CTO of RoosterBio, also gave two talks discussing innovations to accelerate MSC Biomanufacturing, Bioprocessing and Scale-Up. He shared insights from RoosterBio’s path to GMP-manufactured cells and media as well as strategies for overcoming obstacles in his talk “Technologies for Radically Reducing Development Timelines of hMSC-based Therapeutic Products” during the Strategies for Commercialization Session. (New to MSCs? Read more about MSCs and biomanufacturing here, here, here and here.) For a copy of Jon's talk, email us.

RoosterBio Analytical, Process & Product Development efforts were well-represented with three posters.

- “A Xeno-Free Fed-Batch Microcarrier Suspension Bioreactor System for the Scalable and Economic Expansion of hBM-MSCs” showed that MSC critical quality attributes were maintained in 0.1L and 3L bioreactor culture. Poster.

- “Scalable Xeno-Free Manufacturing of Extracellular Vesicles Derived from Human Mesenchymal/Stromal Stem Cells” explained a process for generating a high yield of EVs/Exosomes from MSCs in a shortened time frame using RoosterNourish^TM-MSC-XF Media. Poster.

- “Development & Technology Transfer of a cGMP Potency Assay: Testing of an Ancillary Material for Stem Cell Manufacturing” outlined the steps in assay development, assay qualification/validation, and tech transfer for a custom potency assay based on cell expansion. Poster.

- In addition, the RoosterBio , BioLife Solutions and Brooks Life Science teams collaboratively presented a poster on MSC cryopreservation: "The Effect of Cryomedia Selection and Transient Warming Events on Post-Cryopreservation Human MSC Function". Poster. 

The posters gave presenting scientists the opportunity to talk with those doing similar work in process or assay development. It allowed us to learn from and share our expertise with the community.

The conference kicked off with a RoosterBio-sponsored workshop: Improving Mesenchymal Stem Cell Potency and Survival. Steven Bauer, Branch Chief of the Cellular and Tissue Therapy Branch  of the US FDA, and Head of the FDA's MSC Consortium, discussed his innovative work developing predictive assays for MSC potency by analyzing cell morphology in his talk “High Throughput Approaches to Assess MSC Function”.  You can find his blog here.  There were also a number of talks discussing clinical trials results. A common theme of the session was the need to develop analytical methods and assays that can predict MSC-based treatment efficacy in patients.