Lonza has expanded its human stem cell offering to provide human cord blood CD34+ hematopoietic stem cells (CB-CD34+ HSCs) in large batch sizes, aiming to meet what the company describes as a ‘critical and rapidly expanding’ market need. Lots in a range of sizes are now available with high-resolution HLA-type information, the company says, removing the requirement for cumbersome HLA screening after lot purchase. The cells are the preferred choice for creating humanised mouse models, Lonza says, which are used for preclinical safety testing of a range of immunotherapies. This latest offering enables mouse model developers and researchers to increase cohorts for larger capacity and simplified HLA-matched model creation.
Humanised mice are used to explore how novel cancer biotherapies interact with a human-specific immune system comprising different and interacting cell types. Across the market, the company says, there is a lack of large batch sizes of these cells, restricting the number of humanised mice that can be generated per cell lot. It’s beneficial for mouse models to be carefully HLA-matched to the grafted tumour tissue, and without ready-typed cells available, companies may face lengthy screening processes.
Now Lonza is able to offer a supply of large-batch CB-CD34+ HSCs, as well as ready-typed cell lots in various sizes, customers can create larger mouse model cohorts of the exact HLA-type they need, expanding testing throughput and achieving results more quickly, the company claims. It also guarantees >90% purity for its large cell lots, with ≥2 million viable cells in the lot and a certificate of analysis. Lots are screened using next-generation sequencing, providing high-resolution HLA information designed to minimise the risk of mismatches.
Aurita Menezes, Global Product Manager, Lonza, said: "Isolating high-purity CD34+ stem cells from cord blood is incredibly complex, leaving most vendors unable to deliver the lot size and continuous supply required — even without HLA typing. Lonza’s technological know-how in this domain means it is leading the market with this new offering. Through this, we’re uniquely placed to accelerate routes to success for customers, further bolstering our ability to help deliver safe and affordable biotherapies to patients faster."
