The project, “Developing an adaptive and AI-ready, end-to-end manufacturing process for CAR-T cell therapies” is led by Dr Pedro Silva Couto a postdoctoral research fellow in UCL Biochemical Engineering.
About the IHE Discovery Award
In 2025, the Institute of Healthcare Engineering revamped our strategy. As part of this, we are increasing our pump-priming investment for research at the intersection of our new thematic research areas.
The IHE Discovery Award provides seed funding up to £10,000 to galvanise interdisciplinary teams to work on proof-of-concept ideas, generate data, focus on translational research and apply for further funding from other bodies.
Industrial-scale manufacturing platform for CAR-T therapies
Every year in the UK, around 40 thousand people are diagnosed with various forms of haematological malignancies, which collectively result in 11 thousand deaths annually.
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies represent a new therapy option for patients who have exhausted all the other existing forms of treatment. Although proven clinically effective, the main factor preventing the mass adoption of this treatment lies in its prohibitive cost. Six CAR-T products have been approved worldwide. However, all those are patient-specific and rely on manufacturing methods with significant technical and cost-related limitations.
The project team aims to establish an industrial-scale manufacturing platform for universal chimeric antigen receptor (CAR-T) therapies, where one batch of the product can be administered to several patients.
To enable cost-effective and scalable production, the process will leverage perfusion culture and stirred-tank bioreactor technologies to optimise culture parameters, increase yields, and drive down manufacturing costs. This will have a significant impact in regard to increasing patient access to these lifesaving therapies, and democratising access to healthcare globally.
What will the IHE Discovery Award help the team deliver?
“This funding will enable us to develop and showcase a next‑generation, end‑to‑end manufacturing platform for CAR‑T cell therapies, built around stirred‑tank bioreactors and adaptive perfusion culture.
“With this support, we will generate real‑time insights into cell growth and metabolism, refine process conditions, and establish a scalable, cost‑efficient production strategy. By minimising manual interventions and optimising culture environments, the project aims to reduce manufacturing costs and shorten production timelines, making these life‑saving therapies more widely accessible.
“In parallel, we will develop a predictive modelling tool capable of forecasting when a treatment batch has reached the required dose, enabling smarter control of media use and reducing the need for frequent, sacrificial sampling.” – Pedro Silva Couto.
Interdisciplinary collaboration for maximum impact
Projects funded by the IHE Discovery Award must be interdisciplinary and collaboration with industry partners is encouraged.
The project team draws on UCL expertise from the Department of Biochemical Engineering, the UCL Cancer Institute, and UCLH. Industry partnerships with Fujifilm, Getinge and Repligen will provide in-kind contributions and technical expertise.
Together, this range of academic, clinical and industrial expertise will ensure the project team is in a strong position to translate this technology into the clinic and have a life-changing impact upon patient lives.
