Publication Spotlight: Scale Up Manufacturing Approach for Production of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Islets Using Vertical-Wheel Bioreactors

This publication spotlight summarizes an independent study of expansion and directed differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells into stem cell-derived islets using Vertical-Wheel bioreactors. The highlighted process used 0.1 L and 0.5 L vessels for a 27-day, six-stage suspension workflow. Increasing vessel scale fivefold produced a reported twelvefold increase in islet equivalent yield while maintaining controlled islet size and limiting large clusters. The resulting islets expressed human islet hormones and markers associated with beta-like cell identity, glucose responsiveness, and transcriptional maturation. Following transplantation into 15 diabetic mice, all recipients demonstrated reversal of diabetes after 60 days. The summary also explains the hydrodynamic rationale for using Vertical-Wheel mixing and discusses the potential transfer of the process to larger manufacturing scales.