Worth the switch? Enhancing process performance for cell therapy manufacturing with an animal component-free raw material strategy

Cell & Gene Therapy Insights 2025; 11(1), 89–100

DOI: 10.18609/cgti.2025.011

Published: 3 March
Innovator Insight
Phil Morton, Shanya Jiang

To overcome the variability and safety concerns linked to animal- and human-derived components in cell therapy manufacturing, chemically defined, animal-component-free raw materials can be adopted. This article showcases case studies demonstrating how a novel recombinant human albumin significantly improves T cell cryopreservation and post-thaw viability, while a chemically defined T cell culture medium enhances viability by >90% and achieves a 2.4-fold increase in patient-derived CAR-T cell expansion compared to other formulations, offering a more consistent, efficient, and scalable approach to cell therapy production.