Sphere Fluidics expands Cyto-Mine capabilities to meet cGMP requirements for drug manufacture workflows

• Latest software updates support FDA 21 CFR Part 11 compliance and a full IQ/OQ package for pharmaceutical quality assurance
• Additional functionalities extend Cyto-Mine applications into manufacturing operations

5 July 2023 -- Cambridge, UK -- Sphere Fluidics, a company developing single cell analysis systems underpinned by its patented picodroplet technology, today announced updates to its flagship platform, Cyto-Mine, enabling it to be compliant with current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) regulations enforced by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). By meeting these legally-mandated, quality requirements, the company now provides a solution to increase efficiency and productivity of cell line characterisation and selection within drug manufacture workflows.

Adherence to cGMP regulations assures the identity, strength, quality and purity of drug products by requiring adequate control of manufacturing operations. The latest software updates for Cyto-Mine include: 21 CFR Part 11, the FDA’s regulation for electronic documentation and electronic signatures, and a full Installation Qualification / Operation Qualification (IQ/OQ) package, to support quick and easy equipment qualification. Compliance with cGMP regulations enables pharmaceutical manufacturers to integrate Cyto-Mine into cell line development workflows, ensuring compatibility with later regulatory needs for biopharmaceutical approval.

Cyto-Mine is an automated platform which integrates single cell screening, sorting, dispensing, imaging and clone verification. Underpinned by patented, microfluidic picodroplet technology, it provides an integrated system with an easy-to-use and intuitive interface that can automatically screen up to 40 million cells in a matter of hours, compared with 10,000 typically achieved using multi-step manual techniques. This accelerated throughput is already widely recognised across a variety of research areas, including antibody discovery, cell line development, cell engineering and synthetic biology. The platform also facilitates rapid, high-throughput single cell manipulation and analysis across an expanding range of emerging research areas, including precision genome editing, cell therapy research and cellular diagnostics.

Richard Hammond, chief technical officer at Sphere Fluidics, said: “The Cyto-Mine platform is now available ‘cGMP ready’, extending our range of customers to those operating in this tightly controlled, quality environment for the first time. With benefits in speed, cost and scalability, our picodroplet microfluidic technology has huge potential in drug manufacturing, and we’re excited to offer our updated product portfolio to new customers in this space.”

About Sphere Fluidics 
Sphere Fluidics develops and manufactures single cell analysis and monoclonality assurance systems to enable researchers to find, analyse and isolate the most valuable cells, with ease and speed. Sphere Fluidics’ proprietary picodroplet incubation platform is designed specifically for single-cell screening and isolation, allowing users to encapsulate and analyse single cells within a droplet, while maintaining viability. Harnessing this technology, the company’s range of novel microfluidic tools facilitate leading edge research and accelerate biotherapeutic discovery and development, cell therapy and synthetic biology workflows, streamlining the journey of discovery in labs, globally. The company’s flagship product, Cyto-Mine, provides an integrated system with the ability to select, manipulate, analyse and isolate cells, through an easy-to-use and intuitive interface that can automatically screen up to 40 million cells in a matter of hours. Sphere Fluidics is based at Granta Park in Cambridgeshire, UK. The company has also internationalized its business via a global network of distributors. Visit: www.spherefluidics.com.