Multiply Labs and Retro Biosciences Announce an $85 Million Partnership to Advance Cell Therapy Manufacturing for Age-Related Diseases

First-of-its-kind partnership underscores the versatility of Multiply Labs’ robotic systems, which can automate manufacturing processes for both autologous and allogeneic therapies

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Multiply Labs, a robotics company developing industry-leading automated manufacturing systems to produce individualized drugs, and Retro Biosciences (Retro), a biotechnology company developing therapies that meaningfully address age-related diseases, today announced a first-of-its-kind commercial and supply agreement valued at up to $85 million to automate Retro’s groundbreaking approach.

Retro, supported by a recent investment by Sam Altman (CEO of OpenAI), is driven by a mission to extend healthy human lifespan by a decade, targeting the cellular drivers of aging. With this partnership, Multiply Labs marks the first commercial sale of its robotic system, in support of Retro’s efforts.

This partnership underscores the versatility of Multiply Labs’ robotic systems, showcasing their wide range of cell therapy applications, which include but are not limited to CAR-T therapy manufacturing. The robotic systems can be used broadly to reduce costs, accelerate product timelines, and improve scalability for different types of cell therapies, as well as to automate manufacturing processes for both autologous and allogeneic therapies. By enabling Retro to manufacture at a cost-efficient scale, Multiply Labs empowers them to expedite the transition from process development to clinical trials and commercialization, ultimately expediting the development and delivery of life-changing therapies to patients worldwide.

“The accelerating rate of change in cell therapies motivated us to look for a manufacturing platform with flexibility at its core,” said Joe Betts-LaCroix, CEO of Retro. “The modular structure of the Multiply Labs robots will help enable Retro to bring its unique cell therapies to patients.”

"This collaboration signifies a profound step forward in our efforts to harness cutting-edge robotic technology that helps patients access life-saving therapies," said Fred Parietti, Ph.D., Co-founder and CEO of Multiply Labs. "We are thrilled to enter this agreement with Retro, a like-minded organization with a shared commitment to extending human longevity and saving lives. This alliance not only validates the versatility and adaptability of our robotic systems but also propels us closer to our vision of making cell therapies accessible to more patients than ever before.”

While robotics and automation are common approaches to reducing labor costs in other industries, it is more challenging in the biotech field as changing instruments or processes in FDA-approved therapeutics manufacturing requires regulatory resubmissions and lengthy comparability studies. This is why Multiply Labs’ unique approach, in collaboration with an industry-leading partnership ecosystem including Akron Bio, Charles River, Fedegari, GenScript, Wilson Wolf and more, focuses on robotic systems that can operate market-leading GMP instruments from different vendors which are already extensively deployed for cell and gene therapy manufacturing. This technology is designed to enable plug-and-play-like capabilities, faster automation timelines, and fewer regulatory barriers.

Multiply Labs

Multiply Labs is a robotics company that provides autonomous manufacturing technology to the pharmaceutical industry. The company develops advanced, cloud-controlled robotic systems that enable the production of individualized drugs at scale. Its customers include some of the largest global organizations in the advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing space. Multiply Labs’ expertise is at the intersection of robotics and biopharma – its team includes mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, computer scientists, software engineers, and pharmaceutical scientists. The founding team got in touch because of their shared love of robots at MIT. The company is based in San Francisco, California. For more information, please visit www.multiplylabs.com.

About Retro Biosciences

Retro Biosciences is a biotechnology company co-founded by Joe Betts-LaCroix and funded in 2021 by Sam Altman, with the mission of adding 10 years to healthy human lifespan. The vertically integrated team is diversified across pipeline stages and biological mechanisms. The 5 discovery programs are based on mechanisms with proof-of-principle demonstrated in mammals. Two programs, autophagy and in vivo reprogramming, operate in situ; the others reprogram cells outside the body and return them rejuvenated, as “micro replacement.” Their strategy prioritizes large effect sizes, and age reversal rather than slowing aging. The team of 62, primarily PhD scientists, multiplies wet-lab productivity using automation and a large computational biology team.