2024-05-02

Kindly shed some light about the development process of your xeno-free hydrogel system (VitroGel) and how it closely mimics the natural extracellular matrix?

The hydrogel matrix is modified with multiple cellular functional ligands to give an outstanding balance of biological functions and operating feasibility to establish a robust 3D cell culture platform.

What sets your smart cell delivery system apart from traditional delivery methods, and what advantages does it offer?

VitroGel is stable at room temperature and has a neutral pH, unlike animal-based extracellular matrix products. Researchers do not need to worry about keeping the solution on ice or dealing with rapid gel crosslinking, allowing for more flexibility in experimental procedures.

VitroGel also possesses a unique rheological property that maintains excellent injectability for hours after mixing with cells. When subjected to mechanical shearing forces, such as during injection through a syringe, the soft hydrogel undergoes a gel-sol transition, turning into a free-flowing substance. However, once the shearing force ceases, the mechanical strength of the hydrogel rapidly recovers through a sol-gel transition, reverting to its hydrogel state.

This unique injectable property enables cells or compounds to be pre-mixed with VitroGel solution and maintained as a homogeneous mixture in an injectable state for in vivo applications. In addition, we can modify the hydrogel with advanced biophysical and biological functions to enhance cell properties and protect cells from immune attack when used for injection.

How do you ensure the safety and efficacy of your 3D Bioprinted tissue-engineered medical products?

The hydrogel and bioink systems from TheWell Bioscience are purely synthetic and therefore biocompatible. These systems have successfully passed in vivo biosafety testing. Additionally, we are currently developing GMP-grade products to support preclinical and clinical applications.

How does TheWell Bioscience's 60 synthetic, room-temperature-stable animal-free hydrogels, bioinks, solutions, and functional assays cater to the needs of biopharma customers?

At TheWell Bioscience, we focus on driving advanced biomedicine with our 3D biomimicking platforms for precision medicine, cell therapy, and bioprocessing. Our synthetic, room-temperature-stable, animal-free hydrogels, bioinks, solutions, and functional assays are tailored to meet the specific needs of biopharma customers.

Our xeno-free hydrogel system, VitroGel, mimics the natural extracellular matrix, enabling the development of 3D organoid models for clinical applications. This versatile platform supports the culture of diverse cell sources, including patient-derived cells, with full lab automation potential for personalized 3D cell models and complex organoid systems. Our technology also facilitates 3D bioprinting, enhances cell therapy with improved cell retention, and enables large-scale cell manufacturing. Through collaboration with academia, hospitals, and pharmaceutical industries, we drive innovation in drug discovery, personalized medicine, and regenerative therapies.

In what ways does the collaboration between Sartorius and TheWell Bioscience accelerate research in advanced biomedicine and personalized therapies?

Fiona Coats has captured a concise way of how our collaboration can accelerate research in advanced biomedicine and personalized therapies: ‘…The offering of TheWell Bioscience seamlessly complements our bioanalytic instruments, cytokines, and media products used to grow and analyze a range of 3D spheroid and organoid models. Their hydrogel solutions are highly compatible with our live-cell imaging system for monitoring and analyzing cell health and behavior in real-time. By collaborating, we will enable customers to get more relevant insights in less time, accelerating time to market."

Additionally, John Huang emphasized that ‘The collaboration with Sartorius will broaden our reach in the life science and biopharma market and enable more customers to speed up their research in advanced biomedicine and personalized therapies.’

How does TheWell Bioscience ensure the quality and reliability of its hydrogels and bioinks for use in critical applications such as precision medicine and biomanufacturing

Ensuring the quality and reliability of our hydrogels and bioinks for critical applications is paramount. We adhere to high-standard manufacturing quality control procedures throughout our production processes. These quality control procedures involve comprehensive testing and analysis at every stage of manufacturing to ensure batch-to-batch consistency.

By the end of 2024, we aim to transition to Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) standards for our production processes. This adaptation to GMP guidelines underscores our dedication to meeting the highest industry standards and ensuring the quality, safety, and reliability of our products for use.