Invitrogen, a division of Life Technologies announced the launch of GIBCO OpTmizer T-cell Expansion SFM, a next-generation solution for culturing and expanding human T-cells that does not require the addition of serum to achieve optimal, cost-efficient results. OpTmizer SFM will enable scientists to advance their research on the central role that T-cells play in human immune response. These cells are widely studied by scientists conducting basic and clinical research, as well as biotech and pharmaceutical companies and organizations studying biodefense.

Obtaining large amounts of viable cells for these studies is critical to this work, and led Invitrogen to specifically formulate OpTmizer SFM to enable superior cell growth and viability with consistent results, without the addition of serum. It achieves superior performance criteria for growth, viability and cell yield under serum-free conditions, compared to all other commercial T-cell media. This is an improvement over other products on the market for T-cell culture and expansion, which are limited in their performance without the addition of human serum to feed the cells - a process that adds cost, complexity and contamination risk.

OpTmizer SFM is also xeno-free, meaning that it does not contain material of non-human origin, which further enhances its safety, while decreasing variability of results from lot to lot. It is currently available in Research Use Only grade. This product is manufactured under cGMP regulations, and comes with an FDA Drug Master File to support regulatory filings. OpTmizer SFM expands Invitrogen's portfolio of solutions for immunology research, which includes AIM V, the only FDA 510(k) cleared commercial T-cell medium for human ex vivo tissue and cell culture processing applications, in addition to an extensive selection of serum- and xeno-free products.

Joydeep Goswami, vice president of Invitrogen Primary and Stem Cell Systems, Life Technologies said, "OpTmizer is the first commercially available xeno-free T-cell media that is capable of supporting large-scale expansion of T-cells in a completely serum-free manner. This will enable an easier transition for our customers from research to clinical applications due to fewer regulatory hurdles and processing steps in T-cell expansion, and will yield greater cost savings."

Invitrogen is a leading provider of platform independent, essential life science technologies for disease and drug research, bioproduction and diagnostics. It is the premier provider of products and services for advancing the field of regenerative medicine. Invitrogen's efforts are focused on supplying researchers with the most comprehensive suite of products for advancing cell therapy efforts, including the industry's premier portfolio of tools and reagents for stem cell research.