For First European Study on Automating Cell and Tissue Production - Major Research Consortium Chooses CompacT SelecT

Main Category: Medical Devices / Diagnostics
Article Date: 26 Nov 2005 - 1:00 PDT

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Cambridge, UK: The Automation Partnership (TAP), a world leading manufacturer of innovative industrial automation for life science applications, is delighted to announce the Remedi consortium has chosen a CompacT SelecT, automated cell culture system for use in the first major European study on automating the manufacture of regenerative medicine products.

The CompacT SelecT, which will be installed at Loughborough University, (one of the Remedi consortium's key sites) will initially be used to automate manual cell culture in standard T-175 flasks. David J. Williams, Professor of Healthcare Engineering at Loughborough University and the lead investigator of the Remedi consortium explained: "We wanted a CompacT SelecT, at the heart of our research because it is one of the newest and most exciting automated cell culture systems currently available. Using its sophisticated capabilities we are going to determine how to automate the production of both cell and tissue based therapies, which will mean evaluating the biology and the engineering principles behind this difficult task."

The consortium's CompacT SelecT system has a small 6-axis anthropomorphic robotic arm and operates under negative pressure laminar airflow, preventing contamination of any cells being grown in it. The system is capable of fully unattended operation and has the capacity to process 130 T-175 flasks ensuring the consortium's scientists can rapidly advance their research by continuously culturing multiple different cell lines in parallel.

Hilary Latham, Senior Product Manager at TAP commented: "We are delighted that the Remedi consortium has chosen a CompacT SelecT system for such a ground breaking project. The information they gain from this pivotal study has the potential to revolutionise the field of regenerative medicine and could in the long term provide innovative protocols and systems for the effective production of affordable tissues."

About The Automation Partnership

The Automation Partnership (TAP) is a world leader in the design, development and manufacture of advanced automation systems for the life sciences industry. The Company provides systems for automating and integrating processes for cell culture, sample management, screening and genomics applications. Over 250 TAP systems are installed at major pharmaceutical companies world-wide and these include Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer and Roche.

TAP, founded in 1988, is a private company with headquarters near Cambridge, UK and a U.S. sales and support office in Wilmington, Delaware. The Company, which employs over 180 staff, has profitable revenue of almost $40 million and continues to grow by developing and supplying successful market driven automation products for life science applications.

automationpartnership.com

About the Remedi Consortium

The UK based Remedi consortium of academic partners (Loughborough, Nottingham, Cambridge, Birmingham and Ulster Universities) and industrial collaborators is set up to create reproducible and effective processes for the scaleable production of cells and tissues. The consortium is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council 'Grand Challenge' award of Ł8 million and has a team of over 30 researchers dedicated to developing automated methods to produce cost-effective regenerative medicine products such as cell based therapies, skin, bone and eventually whole organs.

Matthew Walker
Marketing Manager
The Automation Partnership
York Way
Royston
Hertfordshire
SG8 5WY
UK.
Tel: +44 (0) 1763 227200
Fax: +44 (0) 1763-227201
matthew.walker@automationpartnership.com
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