Case Studies Automated Cellular Cytotoxicity Assays with Antha and Gilson PIPETMAX

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	Automated Cellular Cytotoxicity Assays with Antha and Gilson PIPETMAX

Automated Cellular Cytotoxicity Assays with Antha and Gilson PIPETMAX

Technology Category	Functional Applications - Remote Monitoring & Control Systems Analytics & Modeling - Predictive Analytics Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Data Management Platforms
Applicable Industries	Healthcare & Hospitals Life Sciences
Applicable Functions	Product Research & Development Quality Assurance
Use Cases	Predictive Maintenance Remote Asset Management Digital Twin Remote Control
Services	Software Design & Engineering Services System Integration Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services
Challenge	Scientists at Autolus routinely use cytotoxicity assays in the development of novel CAR T-cell therapies. Setting up these assays manually is labour-intensive and time-consuming. While automation can increase throughput, robustness, and walkaway time for scientists, it often requires advanced coding skills. In addition, automating the handling of live cells is not straightforward as they are sensitive and susceptible to lysis. Read More
About Customer	Autolus is a leading clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company in T cell programming technologies, developing precisely targeted, controlled, and highly active Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies, with the potential to offer cancer patients more effective treatments and care. The company was founded on pioneering cell programming technology developed by Dr Martin Pule and was spun-out from University College London in 2014. The Synthetic Genomics research group at Autolus started working with Synthace in 2019 as it recognized the need to improve the flexibility, robustness, and efficiency of its routine CAR T-cell cytotoxicity assays. The group was looking towards automation solutions that could provide a rapid and scalable approach to physical execution in the lab, which led them to adopt Synthace’s software platform Antha. Read More
Solution	Synthace’s software platform Antha allows scientists to flexibly plan, test, and execute cytotoxicity assays on selected liquid handlers, with no programming needed. Users can build, simulate, and verify their assays in silico prior to scheduling a physical run. All methods and data are securely stored in the cloud for easy protocol sharing and standardization. Antha empowered Autolus to automate the setup of complex cytotoxicity assays easily, rapidly, and with the flexibility required for therapy development. Scientists showed how three different CAR-transduced effector cells significantly reduced cancer cell growth, while next generation CARs overcame inhibitory cytokine signalling, a major challenge in CAR T-cell therapies. Antha did not impact cell viability or transfer accuracy and achieved comparable results to manual execution, while offering superior pipetting consistency leading to increased assay robustness. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Functional Applications - Remote Monitoring & Control Systems

Analytics & Modeling - Predictive Analytics

Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Data Management Platforms

Applicable Industries

Healthcare & Hospitals

Life Sciences

Applicable Functions

Product Research & Development

Quality Assurance

Use Cases

Predictive Maintenance

Remote Asset Management

Digital Twin

Remote Control

Services

Software Design & Engineering Services

System Integration

Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services

Challenge

Scientists at Autolus routinely use cytotoxicity assays in the development of novel CAR T-cell therapies. Setting up these assays manually is labour-intensive and time-consuming. While automation can increase throughput, robustness, and walkaway time for scientists, it often requires advanced coding skills. In addition, automating the handling of live cells is not straightforward as they are sensitive and susceptible to lysis.

About Customer

Autolus is a leading clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company in T cell programming technologies, developing precisely targeted, controlled, and highly active Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies, with the potential to offer cancer patients more effective treatments and care. The company was founded on pioneering cell programming technology developed by Dr Martin Pule and was spun-out from University College London in 2014. The Synthetic Genomics research group at Autolus started working with Synthace in 2019 as it recognized the need to improve the flexibility, robustness, and efficiency of its routine CAR T-cell cytotoxicity assays. The group was looking towards automation solutions that could provide a rapid and scalable approach to physical execution in the lab, which led them to adopt Synthace’s software platform Antha.

Solution

Synthace’s software platform Antha allows scientists to flexibly plan, test, and execute cytotoxicity assays on selected liquid handlers, with no programming needed. Users can build, simulate, and verify their assays in silico prior to scheduling a physical run. All methods and data are securely stored in the cloud for easy protocol sharing and standardization. Antha empowered Autolus to automate the setup of complex cytotoxicity assays easily, rapidly, and with the flexibility required for therapy development. Scientists showed how three different CAR-transduced effector cells significantly reduced cancer cell growth, while next generation CARs overcame inhibitory cytokine signalling, a major challenge in CAR T-cell therapies. Antha did not impact cell viability or transfer accuracy and achieved comparable results to manual execution, while offering superior pipetting consistency leading to increased assay robustness.

Impact #1	Antha-driven automated liquid handling of mammalian cells maintained cell viability and transfer accuracy to the same level as manual pipetting, without compromising the results.
Impact #2	Antha allowed Autolus scientists to optimize and verify their workflow prior to execution and ensured complete traceability.
Impact #3	Antha workflows can be easily adapted for new experiments/devices with a few clicks, without the need to rewrite scripts, reprogram robots, or interact with multiple vendor software.

Impact #1

Antha-driven automated liquid handling of mammalian cells maintained cell viability and transfer accuracy to the same level as manual pipetting, without compromising the results.

Impact #2

Antha allowed Autolus scientists to optimize and verify their workflow prior to execution and ensured complete traceability.

Impact #3

Antha workflows can be easily adapted for new experiments/devices with a few clicks, without the need to rewrite scripts, reprogram robots, or interact with multiple vendor software.

Benefit #1	Antha provided remarkable pipetting consistency, with CV of 3.66% compared to 23.17% in manual execution.

Benefit #1

Antha provided remarkable pipetting consistency, with CV of 3.66% compared to 23.17% in manual execution.

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Overview

Automated Cellular Cytotoxicity Assays with Antha and Gilson PIPETMAX

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit