Raphael Thys
Project aims to scale production of induced pluripotent stem cells to support development of treatments for a wide range of chronic diseases.
Regenerative medicine company Cellino Biotech has been awarded up to $25 million in funding from the US Government’s Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) initiative. The funding will support Cellino’s development of an advanced biomanufacturing technology aimed at producing personalized regenerative medicines.
Cellino is focused on making stem cell-based regenerative therapies more accessible to patients who are eligible for such treatments. These therapies, derived from stem cells, have the potential to prevent, treat, and possibly reverse diseases where current medical options are either inadequate or nonexistent. Despite their promise, the large-scale production of these therapies has been difficult due to manual processes, variability in outcomes and the high costs of manufacturing. Cellino aims to address these challenges by using a next-generation platform that combines AI with laser technology to automate the cell therapy production process, reducing the manufacturing costs and limitations that have previously hampered scalability.
The biomanufacturing technology being developed by Cellino is designed to be ultra-scalable, autonomous and highly precise. The system automates traditionally manual processes, using an AI-guided, laser-based approach to manage cells with greater accuracy, thus minimizing variability. This technology is intended to reduce the cost of producing personalized regenerative medicines, especially through the use of patient-specific closed “cassettes.”
With ARPA-H’s financial backing, Cellino will create a cassette-based technology that can scale the production of personalized regenerative cells, specifically induced pluripotent stem cells, for deployment in hospitals across the country.
“This funding empowers us to unlock the potential of regenerative medicine by harnessing cutting-edge advancements in physics, cell therapy technologies, and artificial intelligence,” said Matthias Wagner, CTO of Cellino.
Matthias Wagner, CTO of Cellino, on the ARPA-H Award. (Video credit: Cellino)
The project’s aim is to develop curative treatments for a wide range of chronic diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease, heart disease, spinal cord injuries, age-related macular degeneration and diabetes. These conditions affect more than 50 million Americans, and personalized therapies have the potential to minimize immune-related complications by eliminating the need for donor matches, thereby improving health equity.
Cellino CEO Dr Nabiha Saklayen said that the company was building a biomanufacturing technology that “personalizes cells, tissues, and organs for all, revolutionizing the treatment landscape for humanity’s most burdensome diseases.”
“This support from ARPA-H will enable us to accelerate our innovation pace to bring potentially curative cell therapies to patients across the nation and beyond,” she added.
The awarded project, titled NEBULA (NExt-generation Biomanufacturing ULtra-scalable Approach), is the first initiative supported by ARPA-H’s Scalable Solutions Mission Office under its Open Broad Agency Announcement.
“Enhancing affordability and broader access to essential medications is as challenging as developing those novel therapies,” said Dr Jason Roos, ARPA-H Scalable Solutions Mission Office Director. “ARPA-H is committed to ensuring we can scale manufacturing right alongside other regenerative health innovations.”
The NEBULA project seeks to expedite the approval and distribution of regenerative medicines currently under development. Cellino’s proprietary optical bioprocess is expected to play a significant role in reducing production costs while maintaining the high precision required for producing patient-specific therapies.
In addition to the ARPA-H funding, Cellino has also raised a total of $96 million in venture funding, including an $80 million Series A raise in 2022.
READ MORE: Our interview with Cellino Cofounder and CEO Dr Nabiha Saklayen.
Photographs/images courtesy of Cellino; main photograph shows Cellino Cofounder and CEO Dr Nabiha Saklayen.