Erbi Biosystems Raises $4M to Provide Small-Scale Perfusion Bioreactors for Development and Manufacture of Cell Therapies

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Jan. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Erbi Biosystems, developer of innovative, small-scale, automated, and high-performance cell culture systems, has closed a private round of funding totaling $4M. This latest financing will enable the company to expand operations to meet the growing demand for its Breez perfusion bioreactor product and develop extensions to enhance cell therapy applications.

The Erbi Breez bioreactor provides continuous media addition, cell retention and bubble-free gas diffusion through its True Perfusion technology, which is unique among existing small-scale bioreactors that can only approximate perfusion with intermittent media exchange. The Breez's fully automated, sterile, single-use system also includes online sensing and controls that are combined with easy-to-use software, delivering sophisticated feeding strategies, cell concentration, and media exchanges, resulting in performance that can exceed stirred tank and rocking bag reactors.

"Erbi has developed a compelling platform for small-scale cell culture," said Michael Chambers, Erbi investor and founding CEO of Aldevron. "In addition to its capabilities in bioprocessing, their platform enables testing of multiple replicates from a single sample of scarce patient cells - a unique and powerful capability that will accelerate cell therapy development."

"The Breez product has proven to be an effective scale-down tool for process development across a range of cell types," said Dr. Martin Madaus, former Chairman and CEO of Millipore. "The small volume, single-use, sterile and fully-automated format makes this an ideal platform for cell therapy manufacturing."

In 2021, Erbi Biosystems doubled its staff and relocated to a larger facility north of Cambridge, equipped with biolabs and cleanroom manufacturing space. 

"We're growing quickly and expect to double again in 2022," said Dr. Michael Chiu, CEO of Erbi Biosystems. "Revenue from our growing list of Breez customers in the US, Europe and Asia is fueling our growth. This additional funding allows us to accelerate our pipeline of technology and product development projects which are focused on the needs of the cell therapy process development and GMP manufacturing."

Mr. Chambers and Dr. Madaus are both investors in the latest private round. 

About Erbi Biosystems

Erbi Biosystems supports therapeutic drug manufacturers with tools to accelerate the development of their processes and therapies. Erbi's technology platform includes single-use, mL-scale cell culture, microfluidics, optical sensing, and integrated controls.

The Breez bioreactor is used across a range of applications and cell types, including media and cell-line development; intensified process and n-1; CAR-T process development; and non-mammalian cell culture. The small size, single-use device, and fully automated operation drastically reduce the time, media consumption and lab space required for process development. The mL-scale working volume and closed-sterile consumable format make it ideal when working with scarce and highly variable source materials, such as autologous therapy development.

The Erbi Breez system is available worldwide with sales and distribution in the US, EU, and China.

SOURCE Erbi Biosystems