EMD Millipore, Centre for Commercialization of Regen Med to Optimize Large-Scale Stem Cell Cultivation

EMD Millipore and the Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (CCRM) entered a collaboration to develop optimized conditions for bioreactor-based cultivation of stem cells. They will develop a monitoring and control methodology that enables robust growth of adherent human pluripotent stem cells in EMD Millipore's Mobius® CellReady stirred-tank bioreactor. Ultimately, the project will deliver a commercially available kit containing reagents and associated methodologies for bioreactor culture of stem cells on microcarriers.

"As the demand for stem cells used in drug discovery and clinical applications grows, effectively translating the promise of stem cells into therapeutic reality will require large-scale, industrialized production under tightly controlled conditions," states Robert Shaw, commercial director of EMD Millipore's Stem Cell Initiative. "At this time, production is typically achieved using stacks of 2-D tissue culture vessels, which is an expensive and labor-intensive process. This joint project will address those challenges and facilitate optimized, large-scale cultivation of stem cells, which can accelerate the progress of therapies into the clinic."

CCRM is a Canadian not-for-profit organization funded by the Government of Canada's Networks of Centres of Excellence program and six institutional partners. It supports the development of technologies that accelerate the commercialization of stem cell- and biomaterials-based products. CCRM will be employing EMD Millipore's Mobius CellReady stirred-tank bioreactor in its product development facility at the University of Toronto's Banting Institute.