Xcell Biosciences Inc. (Xcellbio), an instrumentation company focused on cell and gene therapy applications, today announced that it has expanded its collaboration with AmplifyBio, a rapidly growing contract development and manufacturing organization, through the installation of a new AVATAR™ Foundry system as part of Xcellbio’s beta access program. The new instrument will enable AmplifyBio’s team to advance from small-scale workflows on the previously installed AVATAR™ Odyssey platform to achieve automated cell therapy manufacturing workflows suitable for clinical use.

Xcellbio and AmplifyBio have an ongoing collaboration aimed at streamlining and improving the manufacturing process for engineered T-cell receptor (TCR) therapies targeting solid tumors, which have proven difficult to treat with cell therapies due to the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Through this collaboration, scientists are working to identify key elements for successful manufacture of TCR therapies, such as the relationship between various T cell conditioning matrices and product characteristics such as phenotype, metabolic profile, and potency. Already, experiments have progressed from in vitro to in vivo, and an IND filing is expected next year to target human papillomavirus-positive tumors using a conditioned, engineered TCR therapy.

Xcellbio developed the AVATAR™ platform for cell and gene therapy research and development, with the AVATAR™ Odyssey system designed for small-scale research and process development needs. Its latest platform, the AVATAR™ Foundry system, is a cGMP manufacturing platform that delivers novel capabilities for improving the potency of cell and gene therapies.

“Building on our experience with the AVATAR™ Odyssey system that is providing us with the tools to optimize various T cell conditioning protocols, we are excited to get access to the AVATAR Foundry system so we can progress our client’s research efforts toward automated, clinical-scale manufacturing of cell products,” said J. Kelly Ganjei, President and CEO of AmplifyBio. “This aligns with our mission to add cutting-edge platforms to our development sandbox that improve advanced therapies' safety, efficacy, and manufacturing efficiency. We are particularly excited to add tools that accelerate the commercialization of therapies for solid tumors, which to date have not enjoyed the same successes as those targeting hematological malignancies.”

Brian Feth, co-founder and CEO at Xcellbio, commented: “The AVATAR Foundry system will allow AmplifyBio to help clients maximize the potency and tumor-killing activity of their TCR T products, while also accelerating manufacturing timelines and streamlining workflows. We are eager to work with their team as they use this powerful technology to advance cell therapy manufacturing for the benefit of future patients.”

To learn more about the beta access program for the AVATAR Foundry platform, please visit https://www.xcellbio.com/gmp.

About Xcell Biosciences

Xcellbio is driven by its mission to enhance the performance and safety of cell and gene-based therapies through the design and development of revolutionary technology platforms. The company’s commercial instruments and software allow researchers to discover novel insights into immune and tumor biology and enable the translation of these insights at patient scale through the development of its pioneering cGMP cell therapy manufacturing platform. Based in San Francisco, Xcellbio can also be found online at www.xcellbio.com.

About AmplifyBio

AmplifyBio is a contract research and manufacturing organization founded on the principle that the development and scale-up of advanced modality drugs should be done with commercial and clinical goals in mind. AmplifyBio launched with an initial offering of industry-leading preclinical toxicology, safety, and efficacy testing in an agile environment with analytics capabilities that serve the dynamic safety requirements of modern modalities. Since then, they have developed drug characterization and optimization service capabilities and opened a GMP manufacturing center to provide complete concept-to-commercial partnerships to commercialize advanced therapies. AmplifyBio (amplify-bio.com)

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