Brooks Life Sciences, a division of Brooks Automation (CSA CSM), announced the launch of its BioStore III Cryo automated freezer for 250ml cryobags at the International Society for Cellular Therapy Conference (ICCT 2018) in Montreal.

The company offers automated storage, cryopreservation, informatics, sample storage, lab services, transportation, consumables and instruments. Technologies and services span the entire cold chain supporting research, pre/clinical, cell therapy and biologics.

The latest version of its freezer brings simple, automated management for 250mL cryobags to the market for the first time, according to the company, enabling users to avoid the risk of errors and variability inherent in manual inventory handling.

“The addition of automated tracking and handling for 250mL cryobags marks a significant enhancement to the BioStore III product line,” says David Lewandowski, global product marketing manager. “As cellular therapy products move from discovery through clinical trial and commercialization phases, many customers are standardizing 250mL cryobags for storage and delivery of cells.”

Lewandowski says the company is committed to expanding the product line to bring all the advantages of automated inventory management to clinical and commercial customers. The new freezer, he says, supports the detailed regulatory and workflow process required to address the precision medicine market.

The BioStore Cryo III integrates the MVE 1800 high efficiency liquid nitrogen (LN2) freezer technology from Chart Inc. (CSA CSM). It features complete automation for storage and retrieval for up to 1,000 BioStore III 250mL cryobags, including inventory management through an intuitive touch screen interface.

It also includes fast, hands-off cassette retrieval that takes less than one minute per request; compatibility with Brooks Life Sciences CryoPod Carriers and CryoPod Filling Station; energy efficient refrigeration using < 11 L per day LN2; and 21-day hold time in case of LN2 interruption.

"Current methods of managing cryogenic collections require manually lifting racks in and out of a tank, exposing non-targeted therapies in the same rack to transient warming and other events that can be damaging and compromise the quality and integrity of the cell product," says Scott Reeves, product manager. "With the BioStore III, cell therapy manufacturing sites and distribution hubs are able to tightly manage the inventories of cell therapies with proper controls and documentation measures in place."