Multiply Labs has achieved a breakthrough 74% cost reduction in cell therapy manufacturing through its robotic biomanufacturing cluster, according to peer-reviewed studies conducted with UCSF. The technology leverages collaborative robot arms from Universal Robots to automate the production of personalized cell therapies currently priced between $300,000 and $2 million per dose.
Transforming "Artisanal" Manufacturing
"Historically, cell and gene therapy manufacturing has been manual, almost artisanal," says Fred Parietti, CEO of Multiply Labs. "Expert scientists perform hundreds of tasks by hand, from pipetting to shaking cells." Unlike mass-produced drugs, personalized cell therapies used to treat blood cancers like lymphoma and leukemia require customized doses from each patient's own cells, making large-batch production impossible.
Dr. Jonathan Esensten, Director of the Advanced Biotherapy Center at Sheba Medical Center and former UCSF faculty member who collaborated on developing the robotic solution, confirms the dramatic cost savings: "When we compared a traditional manual manufacturing process for these cell therapies to a robotic process doing the exact same process, we found a cost reduction of approximately 74%."
Enhanced Efficiency and Sterility
The modular robotic biomanufacturing cluster features multiple Universal Robots arms working in parallel, stacked floor-to-ceiling with collision avoidance systems handling the entire cell therapy manufacturing process. Beyond cost reduction, the system delivers significant improvements in space utilization and quality control.
Parietti reports the robotic system achieves up to 100x more patient doses per square foot of cleanroom compared to typical manual processes. The sterility advantages are equally compelling. "Robots don't breathe, and they don't touch stuff they're not supposed to touch," notes the Multiply Labs CEO.
The UCSF study data supports these quality improvements. "While human handling led to contamination in one case, we did not see any contamination in the robotic process," Dr. Esensten confirms.
Imitation Learning Technology
A core innovation driving the system's success is Multiply Labs' imitation learning technology, where robots learn from expert human demonstrations rather than requiring entirely new process development. "We ask the pharmaceutical companies that we work with to videotape their scientists performing the tasks. We then feed this data to the robots, and the robots learn to effectively replicate what scientists were doing in the lab, just more efficiently, more repeatably, 24/7, and in parallel," explains Parietti.
This approach allows the Universal Robots arms to "self-learn hundreds of new tasks" with exponentially lower engineering costs. The process fidelity is crucial for regulatory compliance, potentially saving decades and billions of dollars in re-approval costs by replicating existing, already approved processes.
"Instead of starting from square zero in terms of drug approval, companies can now document that this is the exact same manufacturing process. It just happens to be done by a robot," Dr. Esensten explains.
Strategic Partnership and Global Deployment
Multiply Labs selected Universal Robots after extensive evaluation of collaborative robotics options. Nadia Kreciglowa, Head of Robotics at Multiply Labs, cites Universal Robots' "crucial six-axis capabilities, unrivaled force mode for delicate handling, seamless software integration, robust community support, and cleanroom compatibility" as key selection factors.
Jean-Pierre Hathout, President of Universal Robots, emphasizes the partnership's healthcare impact: "By empowering Multiply Labs to replicate intricate manual processes with high precision and scale, our cobots are redefining efficiency in pharmaceutical manufacturing. More importantly, it's driving significant cost reductions while broadening access to life-saving treatments."
The robotic cluster is already deployed in global pharmaceutical companies, with results documented in collaboration with scientists at Stanford University. "This will really change the way we think about the manufacturing of these bespoke, custom cell and gene therapies for patients," says Parietti. "We will ultimately improve patient access globally by lowering manufacturing costs, enabling distributed production worldwide of these life-saving therapies."
