Cellular Highways’ fastest cell sorter in the world takes Highway1 to success
Cellular Highways has launched Highway1, its cell sorting tool, which can singulate 43,000 cells per second, making it the fastest chip-based cell sorter in the world.
Spun out by TTP plc in 2018, Cellular Highways has become a leader in innovative cell sorting technology, dedicated to revolutionising cell sorting processes and enabling new clinical applications.
Many exciting approaches to cell therapy require the separation of cell types that can’t be achieved with the existing processing equipment and are impossible in a mass-produced therapy.
The founding team within TTP were the inventors of a sterile, scalable, microfluidic sorting technology that showed great promise for this challenge. Since then, the team has been focused on building products suitable for research and therapeutic use, testing prototypes with key opinion leaders and biotechs in cell and gene therapy. This has culminated in the successful launch of Highway1, Cellular Highways’ first production instrument.
The benchtop instrument has undergone a lot of work since the first prototype was made available in 2019, including a complete revision of the mechanics and electronics.
The company says: “We have improved the usability and reduced the form factor so that it can fit inside common biosafety hoods. We have revised the cartridge design with considerations of cGMP (current good manufacturing practice) compliance. The electronics has been overhauled: new detectors, new analogue electronics to reduce noise and increase dynamic range, upgraded digital electronics and new functionality for image analysis and automation.”
Prototype partners included Dana Farber Cancer Centre in the US and King’s College London in the UK.
The first commercial unit has now been installed in the prestigious new Cell & Gene Therapy Catapult facility in Edinburgh. Further units will be deployed in institutes in the US and the UK.
Ruud Hulspas, technical director of process development at Dana Farber Cancer Centre, said: “Many thanks to Cellular Highways for allowing me to quickly move forward with the development and tech transfer of a number of our cell manufacturing processes.”
In a head-to-head test of a T-reg therapy process against the incumbent competitor, Highway1 achieved double the speed and three times the yield.
Together with a better design for sterile biopharmaceutical manufacturing and lower manpower requirements, Cellular Highways projects an enormous saving on operational costs for commercial scale T-reg therapies.
Samson Rogers, CTO at Cellular Highways, said: “We are thrilled by the industry’s response to Highway1 and the recognition of our dedication to innovation. These milestones reflect not only the hard work and dedication of our team but also the transformative potential of Highway1 in advancing scientific research and improving patient outcomes.”
Further cementing its claim as industry leader, Cellular Highways has been honoured with the esteemed title of ‘Most Innovative Cell Sorting Solutions Developer 2024’ by Global Health and Pharma in the ninth annual Biotechnology Awards.
