A co-development case from Cellistic & Quell Therapeutics
Author: Cécile Augereau, PhD – Cell Therapy Innovation Director at Cellistic
Abstract
Autoimmune diseases affect a substantial portion of the population and remain primarily managed through broad immunosuppression rather than restoration of immune tolerance. Regulatory T cells offer a targeted alternative by suppressing pathogenic immune responses instead of eliminating them. Because FOXP3⁺ CD4 regulatory T cells are inherently immunomodulatory, CAR-engineered Tregs are emerging as promising therapeutic candidates, yet their clinical translation is constrained by autologous manufacturing complexity and limited scalability.
In collaboration with Quell Therapeutics, we evaluated induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) as a renewable source for generating regulatory T cells suitable for allogeneic therapy. The study assessed lineage identity, suppressive function, and differentiation robustness.
Our findings show that iPSC-derived cells can acquire key regulatory T-cell characteristics while remaining compatible with scalable production, supporting the feasibility of standardized off-the-shelf Treg therapies for autoimmune disease.
The full case study provides the methodology and characterization data underlying these conclusions.
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