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Case Studies > Automated Cellular Cytotoxicity Assays with Antha and Gilson PIPETMAX

Automated Cellular Cytotoxicity Assays with Antha and Gilson PIPETMAX

Technology Category
  • Analytics & Modeling - Predictive Analytics
  • Functional Applications - Remote Monitoring & Control Systems
  • Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Data Management Platforms
Applicable Industries
  • Healthcare & Hospitals
  • Life Sciences
Applicable Functions
  • Product Research & Development
  • Quality Assurance
Use Cases
  • Digital Twin
  • Predictive Maintenance
  • Remote Asset Management
  • Remote Control
Services
  • Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services
  • Software Design & Engineering Services
  • System Integration
The 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 The 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.
The 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.
Operational Impact
  • 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.
  • Antha allowed Autolus scientists to optimize and verify their workflow prior to execution and ensured complete traceability.
  • 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.
Quantitative Benefit
  • Antha provided remarkable pipetting consistency, with CV of 3.66% compared to 23.17% in manual execution.

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