What is Cell Cryopreservation?
Cryopreservation is a technique used to preserve living cells, tissues, or organisms. This process involves the rapid cooling of biological material to halt all metabolic activity and preserve it in a state of suspended animation. By utilizing cryoprotective agents, the damaging effects of ice formation and cell dehydration are minimized, allowing for long-term storage of valuable biological samples.
Why Use Cryopreserved Cellular Starting Materials?
Planning and coordinating activities throughout the discovery and development process can be complicated, especially with cell therapy manufacturing. One of the primary challenges is that starting materials must be both high quality and available on demand. Freshly isolated starting materials are often considered the gold standard, but that standard only holds true for a short time post collection. Room temperature and cold storage (4 °C) will keep cell therapy starting materials stable for 24 - 72 hours post-collection, but longer shipping and storage times will significantly decline quality. Even during the initial 24 - 72 hour post-collection period, samples will experience a loss in quality and cell viability. This is where cryopreservation is key for the stability of starting materials and delivery of successful cell-based therapies.
Key Advantages to using Cryopreserved Cellular Starting Materials
Alleviates Sourcing Concerns
Cell cryopreservation ensures product availability and fills the need for on-demand starting material, which alleviates donor sourcing concerns.
Mitigates Risk and Simplifies Complex Logistics
Cell cryopreservation protects product quality and efficacy, reduces shipping risks, and safeguards the product against unexpected shipping delays.
Allows for Proper Planning & Allocation of Supplies
Effectively plan and manage processing materials in advance. Cell cryopreservation helps reduce costs and material waste due to shelf life of products or inadequate planning.
Preserves Cell Quality and Viability
Our proprietary cell cryopreservation process extends the shelf life and stability of the product, preserving cell viability and functionality until the cells are needed.
Downstream Processing Consistency
Store cryopreserved materials until you're ready to use them. You control event planning downstream and can have access to reliable cellular starting materials.
Flexible Project & Staff Scheduling
Cell cryopreservation allows flexibility when scheduling and coordinating downstream processing activities, helping you to meet your project timeframe with confidence.
Safeguarding Cell Quality with Cryopreservation
To ensure cell viability and functionality during cryopreservation, it is important to have optimized processes and expertise in place, as some cell types are more sensitive to the cryopreservation process than others. In order for cryopreservation to be successful, it is essential that the protocol for freezing, storage, and thawing is carried out correctly.
If cryopreservation is not done correctly, it can result in a significant loss of cell viability and function. Because of this, scientists have been cautious about using cryopreserved products in the past. Charles River has spent the past decade perfecting our cryopreservation protocols to ensure maximum viability and functionality. As a result, we have marketed the first commercially available cryopreserved leukopaks.
Industry-Leading Cell Cryopreservation Expertise
- On-site immune cell collections with multiple collection sites
- Same-day cell processing, isolation, and cryopreservation
- Optimized procedures using GMP-compliant freezing media and rate-controlled cryopreservation techniques to ensure optimal cell viability and recovery
- Cryopreserved cells have >90% viability for majority of cell types measured by flow cytometry, with guaranteed cell counts
- Well-integrated workflows designed to minimize room temperature exposure and freeze-thaw cycles
When done right, cryopreservation simplifies shipping and storage logistics while maintaining cell quality and stability, helps to ensure product consistency, and allows scheduling flexibility when planning and coordinating downstream processing activities.
Our high-quality, cryopreserved cellular starting materials provide a reliable and on-demand option to fill a growing need in the cell & gene therapy industry. We have decades of experience providing the resources, expertise, and quality management needed to advance autologous and allogeneic cell therapies.
Short-Term Cryostorage
We offer cryostorage of your biological samples on a project basis. This service facilitates short-term storage of samples either collected and processed on site or received from external sources in anticipation of further processing. Storage capabilities include ultra low (-60 °C and colder) and vapor phase LN2 (-150 °C and below).
- Monitored 24/7 for temperature and humidity
- Call out alarm monitoring system
- Comprehensive backup power strategy
- LN2 bulk tank and a comprehensive back-up generator system
- Secured access and around-the-clock surveillance
- Comprehensive inventory management system
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