Superior Potency and Expansion of NK Cells in Vertical-Wheel Bioreactors

This case study summarizes two investigations evaluating expansion and potency of natural killer (NK) cells in PBS Vertical-Wheel bioreactors compared with G-Rex static culture systems. The first study assessed multiple agitation rates in a PBS-Mini bioreactor and demonstrated higher NK-cell potency and cumulative fold expansion than static culture controls, with performance improving as agitation increased. The second study examined CAR-NK cell expansion in a PBS-3 bioreactor using continuous perfusion and compared outcomes against optimized G-Rex workflows. Potency was measured through cytotoxicity assays and relative potency calculations. Across both studies, NK and CAR-NK products expanded in Vertical-Wheel systems showed improved cytotoxic performance while supporting scalable manufacturing. The document focuses on how dynamic culture conditions influence cell expansion, functionality, and process scalability for allogeneic immunotherapy development.