Streamlining CAR-T manufacture: reducing complexity and improving robustness through acoustic cell processing

Ben Ross-Johnsrud is a Technology Expert for Cell Therapy Processing at MilliporeSigma and came to the team through the recent acquisition of FloDesign Sonics, Inc. As part of his role, Ben leads customer engagement activities, demonstrating the capabilities of our acoustic cell processing technology, the ekko™. He is an expert in conceptualizing new manufacturing paradigms, using the full breadth of the acoustic technology and MiiliporeSigma cell therapy product portfolio to create solutions that meet the adapting process requirements and growing needs of commercial cell therapy supply. He initially joined FloDesign Sonics as an intern from Western New England University’s engineering program. Once he graduated with his Bachelor of Science in Engineering, he joined the company full time, and became a key developer of the acoustic technology that was to become the ekko. Ben also spearheaded some of the co-developments with industry heavyweights such as Merck and Co. and Pall, amongst others.  Ben is a co-inventor on 17 patents to date, and he continues to be one of the most prolific product developers on the team, with a drive to expanding the MilliporeSigma product offering to power the next generation of cell therapies.

Matthew Li is Biomedical Scientist and Engineer with over 10 years of experience across an array of areas in the biotech field including CGT R&D and manufacturing, medical device development, and clinical research. He currently leads the Cell Therapy Manufacturing Innovation group at Vor Bio that engages across the CGT value chain interfacing with research, development, manufacturing, quality, regulatory, clinical, business development, and commercial to holistically address and solve challenges across numerous stages of development and production. Matthew holds a PhD in Medical Engineering and Medical Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Jordan Croteau has more than a decade of process control and execution system design and implementation experience in biopharmaceutical manufacturing and operations. Prior to joining Kite Pharma, he served as MES lead in the Global Automation Center of Excellence at Biogen, Inc. In this role, Jordan led the global MES system design and its integration with Biogen’s manufacturing and enterprise systems. Previously, Jordan worked as an automation integration consultant. He is currently a member of ISPE and ISA, and an active contributor to ISA 95. Jordan received a BS in Chemical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.