Hitachi and ThinkCyte Announce Collaboration to Develop an AI-Driven Cell Analysis and Sorting System

Hitachi, Ltd and ThinkCyte, Inc. announced that they have entered into a collaboration focused on developing an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven cell analysis and sorting system. Hitachi provides a broad range of solutions such as automated cell culture technologies to pharmaceutical companies in the value chain^*1 of the regenerative medicine and cell therapy industry. Through the addition of this cell analysis and sorting system to the value chain, Hitachi continues contributing to cost reductions in the manufacturing of regenerative medicine and cell therapy products. Further, Hitachi and ThinkCyte are promoting collaboration with pharmaceutical companies and research institutes working in the field of regenerative medicine and cell therapy to expedite the development of the system toward commercialization.

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The practical applications of regenerative medicine and cell therapy using cells for treatment have been expanding rapidly with the first regulatory approval of CAR-T^*2 therapy for leukemia in 2017 in the United States and 2019 in Japan. The global market for regenerative medicine and cell therapy is expected to grow from US$ 5.9 billion (JPY 630 billion) in 2020 to US$ 35.4 billion (JPY 3.8 trillion) in 2025^*3. In order to scale up treatment using regenerative medicine and cell therapy products, it is critical to ensure consistent selection and stable supply of high quality cells in large quantities and at a low costs.

Hitachi has been providing large-scale automated induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell culture equipment, cell processing facilities (CPFs), manufacturing execution systems(MES), and biosafety cabinets among other products to pharmaceutical companies and research institutes, and has developed a value chain to meet a variety of customer needs in the regenerative medicine and cell therapy industry. Hitachi has also been carrying out collaborative research projects with universities, research institutes, and other companies to develop core technologies for pharmaceutical manufacturing instruments and in vitro diagnostic medical devices, prototyping for mass production, and working on manufacturing cost reduction and the development of stable and reliable instruments.

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ThinkCyte has been performing research and development focused on high-throughput single cell analysis and sorting technology to precisely analyze and isolate target cells. While such single cell analysis and sorting technologies are vital to life science and medical research, it has been thought impossible to achieve high-throughput cell sorting based on high-content image information of every single cell. ThinkCyte has developed the world’s first Ghost Cytometry™ technology to achieve high-throughput and high-content single cell sorting^*4 and has been conducting collaborative research projects with multiple pharmaceutical companies and research institutes to utilize this technology in life science and medical fields.

Hitachi and ThinkCyte have initiated a joint development of the AI-driven cell analysis and sorting system based on their respective technologies, expertise, and know-how. By combining ThinkCyte’s high-throughput and high-content label-free single cell sorting technology and Hitachi’s know-how and capability to producing stably operative instruments on a large scale, the two companies will together develop a novel reliable system to enable high-speed label-free cell isolation with high accuracy, which has been difficult to achieve with the existing cell sorting techniques, and to realize stable, low-cost and large-scale production of cells for regenerative medicine and cell therapy.

Hitachi and ThinkCyte will further advance partnerships with pharmaceutical companies and research institutes that have been developing and manufacturing regenerative medicines and cell therapy products in Japan and other countries where demand is expected to be significant, such as North America, in order to make this technology a platform for the production of regenerative medicines and cell therapy products. At the same time, taking advantage of the high-speed digital processing technologies cultivated through the development of information and communication technology by the Hitachi group, Hitachi will integrate this safe and highly reliable instrument in its value chain for regenerative medicine and contribute to the growth of the regenerative medicine and cell therapy industry.

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