ScaleReady has awarded a $100,000 G-Rex grant to Sidra Medicine, a women and children’s hospital in Qatar, to support the development and implementation of a G-Rex-based CAR-T cell manufacturing platform.

The grant will enable Sidra Medicine to develop and validate a CD19 CAR-T therapy for use in pediatric oncology. The funding also includes early access to the G-CART process currently in development at CellReady, the first G-Rex-focused CDMO. The initiative supports transfer of the technology to Sidra’s newly established GMP facility, with the goal of achieving a closed, semi-automated, cGMP-compliant production system.

“Sidra Medicine is a pioneering healthcare institution that has innovation weaved into the very core of its precision medicine program,” said Sara Deola, research investigator at Sidra Medicine. “The G-Rex grant will play a key role in accelerating the readiness of our protocols, particularly for our pediatric oncology program. Our preliminary findings have already shown us that the G-Rex method is outstanding in its simplicity and the unique T cell phenotype resulting from the cell culture.”

She added that the system would allow Sidra to implement an affordable, efficient platform with the most suitable T cell phenotype for pediatric patient care.

John Wilson, CEO of Wilson Wolf and co-inventor of G-Rex, said: “By entering the field of CAR-T without preconceived manufacturing notions and quickly gathering data, Sidra Medicine quickly recognized the full array of advantages that our G-Rex centric manufacturing process offers. Their technical and economic grasp of G-Rex gives us confidence this grant will set the stage for scalable CAR-T manufacturing in Qatar and the Middle East.”

To date, ScaleReady’s G-Rex grant program has awarded over $40 million in no-cost product commitments to CGT developers. Awards of up to $300,000 are available, along with access to a network of G-Rex partners offering support in GMP manufacturing, regulatory strategy, and operations.

The company has also launched a new initiative — LEAN Cell & Gene — in partnership with Hanson Wade. The free event series is designed to support CGT companies in developing lean, scalable manufacturing operations and improving product quality and supply.