BACKGROUND
Culturing T cells is essential for various scientific and medical applications. In research, it helps scientists study T cell behavior and responses to stimuli. Therapeutically, T cells are cultured for immunotherapy techniques like adoptive cell therapy for cancer. Selecting the appropriate culture medium is crucial for the successful growth and upkeep of T cells. A base medium is typically used, supplemented with serum to provide essential growth factors and proteins. However, substitution of serum with chemically defined components is necessary for controlling product quality during therapeutic cell manufacturing. While serum-free T cell expansion media exists, it needs expensive supplements that compose the bulk of the cost. Creating affordable, serum-free T cell expansion media could thus be of commercial value.
TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW
Researchers at the University of Toronto have developed serum-free, T-cell media of comparable expansion potential to serum-based formulations. Using an AI-based, media-optimization algorithm (HiDiNeu) they optimized 14 factors to yield numerous high-performing media formulations. Of the 14 top formulations (Figure 1), several enabled cell growth comparable to serum-free formulations. Importantly, some of these formulations also differed dramatically in terms of cost of the reagents. One formulation (ID 80) costs only $0.30 per mL, while another (ID 66) was only $1.00/mL, representing cost reductions of 2x to 7x less than previously developed serum-free media. They also represent a significant reduced cost compared to serum-based formulations (~$10/mL), due to the expensive cytokine supplement that is required.
Figure 1. Human T Cell Expansion levels in different kinds of media. Several top media formulations (18 – 110) were developed using an AI-based algorithm (HiDiNeu) of comparable performance to two X-VIVO serum-based formulations (CCRM, Kim), and largely better than those developed using a non-AI based algorithm (HDDE, 119 - 123).
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
- Serum-free
- Comparable cell expansion potential as serum-based formulations
- Cost-effective
- Upto 7x less than previously developed serum-free formulations
- Upto 30x less than serum-based formulations
- AI-algorithm available to accelerate discovery of further desirable formulations
APPLICATIONS
- T cell media
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY STATUS
- PCT application filed
PROJECT STATUS
Initial development of media for T cells has been conducted. T cell expansion levels of various top formulations have been measured (Figure 1). Functional and proteomic characterization needs to be performed.
