ScaleReady Awards $300,000 G-Rex® Grant to Gates Institute’s Translational Sciences Laboratory to Advance Modular CAR T-Cell Manufacturing
ScaleReady, a joint venture formed by Wilson Wolf Manufacturing, Bio-Techne Corporation, and CellReady, today announced that the Translational Sciences Laboratory at the Gates Institute—an innovative contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) located at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus—has been awarded a prestigious $300,000 G-Rex® Grant. The funding will be used to establish and refine a modular, G-Rex–centric CAR T-cell manufacturing platform designed to improve the scalability, efficiency, and quality of cell and gene therapy (CGT) production.
This grant reflects ScaleReady’s ongoing mission to remove barriers in CGT manufacturing and accelerate the delivery of life-changing therapies for patients worldwide.
A Strategic Step Forward for the Gates Institute
For the Gates Institute, the grant is more than a financial award—it represents recognition of the Institute’s leadership in bridging academic research with clinical applications to develop new therapies for cancer, rare diseases, and other devastating conditions.
Dr. Veena Krishnamoorthy, Director of Translational Sciences at the Gates Institute, emphasized the transformative potential of this funding.
“We are grateful for the generous G-Rex Grant funding, which will support the development of efficient and adaptable manufacturing approaches for our cell and gene therapy programs,” said Dr. Krishnamoorthy. “The scalable and modular nature of the G-Rex platform aligns with our goals to optimize the use of space, capital, and personnel while maintaining cell health and quality. We appreciate the support from Wilson Wolf and Bio-Techne in advancing our work and the broader CGT field.”
The Gates Institute’s Translational Sciences Laboratory functions as a CDMO with unique positioning inside an academic medical campus. This dual identity allows it to integrate cutting-edge scientific discovery with GMP-compliant manufacturing practices, giving it the ability to translate promising laboratory discoveries into viable therapies more rapidly. The grant will therefore not only accelerate innovation but also build long-term capacity for bringing experimental therapies to patients.
Why G-Rex Technology Matters
The G-Rex® platform, invented by Wilson Wolf and supported by ScaleReady’s consortium of companies, is a cell culture system specifically designed to simplify and improve the manufacturing of T-cell and other immune cell–based therapies. Unlike traditional flask-based or bioreactor-based culture methods, G-Rex leverages a gas-permeable membrane to optimize the exchange of oxygen and nutrients while allowing cells to grow to much higher densities.
The advantages are clear:
- Scalability: The platform enables seamless transitions from research-scale production to large-scale clinical manufacturing.
- Consistency: G-Rex reduces batch-to-batch variability, helping ensure higher reliability and reproducibility of cell therapy products.
- Cost-efficiency: By minimizing the need for extensive infrastructure and expensive bioreactors, G-Rex reduces capital requirements for manufacturing facilities.
- Cell health and potency: Cells cultured in G-Rex often demonstrate superior viability and function compared with those grown in traditional systems.
For CAR T-cell manufacturing—an area where consistent product quality is essential to patient safety and therapeutic efficacy—the G-Rex platform offers a transformative pathway forward.
The Role of Design of Experiments (DoE) in Process Optimization
A central part of the Gates Institute’s project involves a structured Design of Experiments (DoE) approach. This method uses statistical modeling to test multiple variables simultaneously, allowing researchers to understand how different process conditions affect the final therapeutic product.
In ScaleReady CAR T-cell manufacturing, numerous factors—including cell activation protocols, cytokine supplementation, culture duration, and transduction efficiency—can impact the safety, efficacy, and durability of the therapy. By applying DoE, the Gates Institute can systematically evaluate these factors and build well-characterized, modular “design spaces” that provide flexibility for different therapy programs while maintaining regulatory compliance.
The end result will be a library of optimized, validated manufacturing approaches that can be applied to diverse CAR T-cell and gene-modified therapy pipelines.
Access to G-CAR-T™: A Next-Generation Manufacturing Operation
In addition to funding, the Gates Institute will gain early access to CellReady’s G-CAR-T™ platform, the world’s first standardized CAR T-cell drug product manufacturing operation centered on G-Rex technology.
G-CAR-T™ is designed for high-throughput, low-cost manufacturing, making it an ideal solution for institutions and companies looking to balance affordability with scalability. The integration of this platform with the Gates Institute’s DoE framework will accelerate the adoption of efficient and repeatable manufacturing processes that can be scaled across programs.
This collaboration further strengthens ScaleReady’s role as not only a technology provider but also a facilitator of standardized, next-generation manufacturing solutions for the global CGT community.
Industry Recognition of the Gates Institute’s Role
John Wilson, CEO of Wilson Wolf and co-inventor of G-Rex, underscored the significance of the partnership:
“We are pleased to award G-Rex Grant funding to the Gates Institute, a leader in bridging the academic world of discovery with clinical application to advance a diverse portfolio of innovative cell therapies for devastating cancers and rare diseases. It’s an honor to support the Gates Institute’s important contributions to the field of cell and gene therapy.”
The recognition highlights how the Gates Institute has become a pivotal player in the ecosystem, capable of connecting academic research, manufacturing innovation, and clinical translation.
ScaleReady’s Commitment to CGT Advancement
The G-Rex Grant Program represents one of ScaleReady’s flagship initiatives. To date, the program has authorized over $40 million worth of products at no cost to recipients, with individual grants valued at up to $300,000. Beyond product donations, the program also provides:
- Technical and regulatory support from a consortium of partners.
- Access to best-in-class manufacturing tools to simplify CGT production.
- Training and consultation in GMP manufacturing, quality systems, and business operations.
By lowering barriers for institutions like the Gates Institute, ScaleReady helps expand the global infrastructure for cell and gene therapy, bringing advanced manufacturing capabilities to more organizations around the world.
Beyond Grants: The Launch of LEAN Cell & Gene™
ScaleReady’s dedication to driving industry-wide change extends beyond its grant program. The company recently introduced LEAN Cell & Gene™, a free educational and collaborative initiative developed in partnership with Hanson Wade, a global leader in life sciences event programming.
The LEAN Cell & Gene™ series is designed to help CGT organizations—whether academic centers, biotech startups, or established manufacturers—systematically identify and eliminate inefficiencies in their operations. Participants will learn strategies to:
- Minimize waste across development and manufacturing.
- Stabilize operations to improve consistency and throughput.
- Enhance drug product quality and ensure robust supply chains.
- Implement LEAN methodologies tailored specifically for cell and gene therapy.
By making the series free and widely accessible, ScaleReady reinforces its philosophy that advancing CGT is a shared responsibility requiring collaboration, transparency, and knowledge-sharing across the industry.
Implications for the Future of CAR T and CGT Manufacturing
The grant to the Gates Institute illustrates a broader trend: the growing recognition that manufacturing innovation is as critical as scientific discovery in determining the success of cell and gene therapies.
While groundbreaking science has given rise to therapies like CAR T-cells, the bottleneck often lies in manufacturing. Costly, labor-intensive, and difficult-to-scale processes can delay clinical development, limit patient access, and challenge commercial viability.
By investing in standardized, modular, and scalable solutions like G-Rex and G-CAR-T™, ScaleReady and its partners are addressing one of the most pressing challenges in the field: how to produce therapies reliably and affordably at the scale needed to reach global patient populations.
The Gates Institute’s work, supported by this grant, has the potential to serve as a model for other academic and CDMO organizations, showing how research-driven institutions can leverage advanced manufacturing platforms to deliver high-quality therapies faster and more efficiently.
About the Partners
- ScaleReady: A joint venture uniting Wilson Wolf Manufacturing, Bio-Techne Corporation, and CellReady. ScaleReady focuses on simplifying and standardizing cell and gene therapy manufacturing with the G-Rex platform at its core.
- Wilson Wolf Manufacturing: Innovator and co-inventor of the G-Rex technology, Wilson Wolf designs tools that simplify and accelerate cell culture and therapy production.
- Bio-Techne Corporation: A global life sciences company providing high-quality reagents, instruments, and services to advance scientific discovery and clinical applications.
- CellReady: The world’s first and only G-Rex CDMO, dedicated to enabling scalable and standardized manufacturing of CAR T-cell and other cell therapies.
- The Gates Institute: Based at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, the Gates Institute operates as both a research hub and a CDMO, specializing in translating scientific discoveries into clinical-grade therapies for cancer, rare diseases, and other conditions.
The $300,000 G-Rex Grant marks an important milestone in the ongoing evolution of CAR T-cell manufacturing. As the Gates Institute integrates G-Rex and G-CAR-T™ into its development framework, the potential for scalable, efficient, and affordable manufacturing grows significantly.
With the continued support of ScaleReady, Wilson Wolf, Bio-Techne, and CellReady, the Gates Institute is well-positioned to lead the charge in developing the next generation of therapies that not only save lives but also reshape the future of medicine.
