Evaluating automated buffer exchange protocols using Rotea™ counterflow centrifuge

Background & Aim Buffer exchange is an essential process in cell therapy manufacturing where the introduction of automation can reduce costs and enable commercial scale manufacture. Rotea™ (Scinogy), is a benchtop counterflow centrifuge specifically designed for cell therapy processing, that allows closed automated buffer exchange for small to medium size batches. To determine the capability of Rotea™, we compared the automated protocols to manual centrifugation for buffer exchange using cultured Jurkat cells and mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs). Methods, Results & Conclusion Methods The details of starting material and wash buffer for various cell types are listed in Table 1. In both automated protocols, wash buffer and cells were loaded into the cell transfer bags and connected onto the single-use processing kit. The automated process starts with loading the cells into the cell chamber, where they were then washed with 40 ml of the buffer before being concentrated to a final volume of 10 ml. The automated processes were compared to two cycles of centrifugation and resuspension. The recovered cells were also plated for MTS assays to measure cell proliferation over 48 hours. Results Automated buffer exchange has a shorter processing time compared to the manual process. Cell viabilities were generally improved after buffer exchange and cell recoveries were close to 100% (Table 1). Cell proliferation rates were similar between manual and automated processes. Conclusions The closed and automated counterflow centrifuge is ideally suited to perform buffer exchange for various cell types with high cell recoveries and shorter processing times.