Advancing human iPSC cultivation processes in bionic bioreactors

Scalable hiPSC and iPSC-derived NK-cell expansion in a low-shear, bubble-free bioreactor. BioThrust’s ComfyCell platform achieved more than 1 billion viable hiPSCs in seven days and 4.6 billion viable iPSC-derived progenitor NK cells after direct scale-up to 2 L.

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Introduction

Scaling human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) and iPSC-derived immune cells requires culture conditions that protect these shear-sensitive cells while providing reliable mixing, oxygen delivery, and carbon-dioxide removal. Conventional stirred-tank bioreactors can introduce shear through agitation and sparged-bubble rupture, while bubbles can also cause foam formation and compromise process performance.

BioThrust’s ComfyCell bioreactor uses the membrane stirrer (MemStir) to combine mixing with bubble-free membrane aeration. The proof-of-concept studies evaluated the system for microcarrier-based hiPSC expansion and iPSC-derived progenitor natural-killer-cell expansion at 250 mL and 2 L scales, aiming to preserve cell identity while enabling scalable 3D, dynamic cultivation.

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Key Takeaways

High-density hiPSC expansion was achieved: 65-fold expansion and 3.5 million viable hiPSCs/mL at 250 mL working volume.

hiPSCs retained phenotypic pluripotency markers and the ability to differentiate into ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm.

iPSC-derived progenitor NK cells expanded robustly at small scale.

The NK process transferred directly from 100 mL to 2 L, yieldeing 4.6 billion viable iPSC-derived progenitor NK cells following 19 days of culture.

MemStir provides the underlying low-shear, foam-free process environment.

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Advancing human iPSC cultivation processes in bionic bioreactors

Introduction

Key Takeaways

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