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World's First T Cell-Qualified Serum Replacement Now Available
[September 16, 2015]

World's First T Cell-Qualified Serum Replacement Now Available


The bioproduction industry now has access to a new serum replacement for immune cell culture that helps minimize supply and safety risks that have been persistent problems for development of cell therapeutics. The GIBCO CTS Immune Cell SR can be used with many base media in less time, with lower costs and with greater consistency than traditional sera to support a wide range of immune cells, including CAR T cells.

Human serum and FBS have been traditional supplements of immune cell cultures for both diagnostic purposes and clinical research cell production, but there are risks of short supply, lot variability and safety. The new CTS (News - Alert) Immune Cell SR easily replaces human serum, easing the tissue culture of clinical research and diagnostic samples. The serum replacement can help boost the rapidly growing field of immune cell culture for research and therapeutic development.

"Reliable cell culture is absolutely essential to successful research and bioproduction applications, and that depends on a safe and reliable source of serum to supplement cell culture," said Oystein Aamellem, leader for cell therapy, at Thermo Fisher Scientific. "However, as the use of cell culture for transltional immune cell research and clinical development has risen, the supply of serum from human and fetal bovine sources has been steadily decreasing. The CTS Immune Cell SR provides the first replacement for human serum and FBS that can provide the same immune cell growth as previously used sera."



The CTS Immune Cell SR is a defined formulation with no bovine or non-human animal-derived components at the primary component level. Thermo Fisher manufactures serum replacement at a FDA-registered site operating to ISO 13485 (medical devices) certification. The product can be used with other CTS Immunotherapy products such as OpTmizer; AIM-V; and cytokines, such as IL-2 and Dynabeads CD3/CD28 products, for a complete immune cell culture workflow. CTS Immune Cell SR is available in volumes suitable for research and can easily be scaled-up to meet future clinical and commercial demands.

CTS Immune Cell SR is T cell-qualified, and it is classified as a FDA Class 1 in vitro diagnostic medical device. It can replace human serum, providing similar performance at similar concentrations. GIBCO serum replacement supports the expansion of CD3/CD28 bead-activated T cells and TILs, CD4, CD8, and CD62L, lentiviral transduction of T cells and functional CAR T cells in vivo, as demonstrated by James Riley, Ph.D at the University of Pennsylvania and presented during the corporate tutorial at the International Society of Cell Therapy meeting. Every lot is prequalified in a functional T cell assay. These innovations help reduce costs and time spent on human serum lot testing and offer a more secure and consistent cell culture experience.


About Thermo Fisher Scientific

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is the world leader in serving science, with revenues of $17 billion and 50,000 employees in 50 countries. Our mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. We help our customers accelerate life sciences research, solve complex analytical challenges, improve patient diagnostics and increase laboratory productivity. Through our four premier brands - Thermo Scientific, Life Technologies, Fisher Scientific and Unity Lab Services - we offer an unmatched combination of innovative technologies, purchasing convenience and comprehensive support. For more information, please visit www.thermofisher.com.


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