Cell maintainer for autologous cell therapy production

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018079999-A1
Application number	US-201615563360-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 31, 2016
Priority date	Mar 31, 2015
Publication date	Mar 22, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

In some aspects, the invention relates to automated cell culture incubators and their methods of use. In one aspect, the disclosure provides cell culture incubators having an airlock chamber, a storage chamber and/or an internal chamber. In some aspects, the disclosure provides methods for producing autologous mammalian cell cultures.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for producing a mammalian cell culture comprising the steps of:
providing a cell culture vessel comprising a passage configured to permit materials to be aseptically transferred into or out from the vessel; introducing a mammalian cell sample into said cell culture vessel through said passage; placing said cell culture vessel into a sterile internal chamber of an incubator; and, expanding the cell sample in said sterile internal chamber, thereby producing a mammalian cell culture.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said passage is pierceable, self-sealing membrane.

3 . The method of claim 1 or 2 , wherein said passage is covered by a gas-permeable membrane.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said passage is a sterile, disposable tube.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said passage is a network of microfluidic channels.

6 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 5 , further comprising aseptically introducing growth media through said passage in the vessel.

7 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 5 , further comprising aseptically introducing a biological material through said passage in the vessel.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the biological material is a cell growth factor.

9 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the biological material is a nucleic acid molecule.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the nucleic acid molecule is a nucleic acid vector.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the nucleic acid vector is a transfection vector.

12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the nucleic acid vector is a transduction vector.

13 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the nucleic acid vector comprises transgenic material.

14 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 3 , further comprising aseptically monitoring conditions of the growth media.

15 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 3 , further comprising maintain a constant temperature range in the incubator.

16 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the incubator is maintained at about 37 degrees Celsius.

17 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 3 , further comprising aseptically monitoring conditions of the cell.

18 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 3 , further comprising aseptically imaging the cell culture.

19 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 3 , further comprising filtering the cell culture.

20 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 3 , further comprising aseptically removing an aliquot of the cell culture.

21 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 20 , wherein the incubator is a cell culture system as described in any one of claims 22 to 49 .

22 . A cell culture incubator comprising:
a transfer chamber; one or more internal chambers; an external door opening from an external environment to the transfer chamber; a first internal door opening from the transfer chamber to a first internal chamber; a second internal door opening from the transfer chamber to a second internal chamber; and, a transfer device for moving one or more items between the transfer chamber and the first internal chamber and/or between the transfer chamber and the second internal chamber and/or between the second internal chamber and the first internal chamber.

23 . The cell culture incubator of claim 22 further comprising an ozone generator coupled to a pump, wherein the ozone generator is configured for supplying ozone gas to the transfer chamber.

24 . The cell culture incubator of claim 23 , wherein the ozone generator is configured for supplying ozone gas to internal chamber.

25 . The cell culture incubator of any one of claims 22 to 24 , wherein the external door forms a substantially gas-tight seal when closed.

26 . The cell culture incubator of any one of claims 22 to 25 , wherein the first internal door and the second internal door each forms a substantially gas-tight seal when closed.

27 . The cell culture incubator of any one of claims 23 to 26 , wherein the pump is configured to remove ozone gas from the transfer chamber and/or one or more internal chamber.

28 . The cell culture incubator of any one of claims 22 to 27 , wherein the internal chamber comprises a storage location.

29 . The cell culture incubator of claim 28 , wherein the storage location is configured to hold a plurality of cell culture vessels.

30 . The cell culture incubator of claim 29 , wherein each vessel of the plurality of cell culture vessels is tagged with a unique barcode.

31 . The cell culture incubator of any one of claims 22 to 30 , wherein the internal chamber comprises an imager and an imaging location.

32 . The cell culture incubator of any one of claims 22 to 31 , wherein the imager is a holographic imager.

33 . The cell culture incubator of any one of claims 22 to 31 , wherein the imager is a microscope, optionally a bright-field microscope or a fluorescence microscope.

34 . The cell culture incubator of any one of claims 31 to 33 , further comprising a controller for the imager.

35 . The cell culture incubator of any one of claims 22 to 34 , wherein the internal chamber comprises a manipulator and a manipulation location.

36 . The cell culture incubator of claim 35 , wherein the manipulator is a cell picker.

37 . The cell culture incubator of claim 35 , wherein the manipulator comprises a fluid handling system.

38 . The cell culture incubator of any one of claims 35 to 37 , further comprising a controller for the manipulator.

39 . The cell culture incubator of any one of claims 22 to 38 , wherein the internal chamber comprises a fluid storage location.

40 . The cell culture incubator of any one of claims 22 to 39 , wherein the internal chamber comprises a cell sorting or cell isolation apparatus.

41 . The cell culture incubator of claim 40 , wherein the cell sorting or cell isolation apparatus is a centrifuge.

42 . The cell culture incubator of claim 40 , wherein the cell sorting or cell isolation apparatus is a Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorting (FACS) machine.

43 . The cell culture incubator of any one of claims 22 to 42 , wherein the transfer device comprises one or more robotic elements.

44 . The cell culture incubator of any one of claims 22 to 43 , further comprising a controller for the transfer device.

45 . The cell culture incubator of any one of claims 34 to 44 , wherein the controller for the imager, the controller for the manipulator and/or the controller for the transfer device are external to the incubator cabinet.

46 . The cell culture incubator of claim 45 , wherein the controller for the imager, the controller for the manipulator and/or the controller for the transfer device comprise a computer.

47 . The cell culture incubator of claim 46 , wherein a single computer controls the imager, the manipulator and/or the transfer device.

48 . The cell culture incubator of any one of claims 22 to 47 , further compr

Assignees

• Thrive Bioscience Inc

Inventors

• Blanchard Alan

Classifications

• C12M23/16 Primary

  Microfluidic devices; Capillary tubes (integrated microfluidic structures B01L3/5027; microreactors B01J19/0093) · CPC title

• C12M41/46

  of cellular or enzymatic activity or functionality, e.g. cell viability · CPC title

• C12M29/00

  Means for introduction, extraction or recirculation of materials, e.g. pumps (pumps per se F04B) · CPC title

• C12M23/28

  disposable or single use · CPC title

• C12M41/14

  Incubators; Climatic chambers (per se B01L1/00) · CPC title