News & Articles
Discover our latest news features, insightful blog posts, and important updates from AuctuCel.
AuctuCel has signed an MoU with Shimadzu (Asia Pacific) to advance cell culture media optimisation and drive innovation in biomanufacturing
Featuring from left to right: Sandhya Nargund | Prem Anand | Chee Wai Fhu | Boon Tong Koh We’re beyond excited to share this big milestone 🎉 — AuctuCel has signed an MoU with Shimadzu (Asia Pacific) to advance cell culture media optimisation and drive innovation in biomanufacturing. It’s an honour to collaborate with a global science leader like Shimadzu, made even more meaningful as it coincides with Shimadzu Corporation’s 150th anniversary — a remarkable legacy of scientific excellence. At AuctuCel , we use computational modelling and AI-powered design to create next-generation culture media that make development faster, smarter, and easier to scale. By integrating our digital media design platform with Shimadzu’s advanced analytical technologies and modelling capabilities, we’re unlocking deeper insights, improving precision, and paving the way for smarter, faster media innovation.
New startup AuctuCel uses AI to slash cell medicine manufacturing costs
AuctuCel founders, Zach Pang (left) and Chee Wai Fhu (right) By harnessing technology to optimise how cells are grown, AuctuCel is able to production costs and timelines for cell therapies, potentially making treatments more accessible and affordable. Singapore-based biotechnology start-up AuctuCel has officially launched with a system that uses technology to make cell medicine manufacturing more efficient, reducing time and money spent from research and development (R&D) to manufacturing. The start-up is a spin-off of Agency for Science, Technology and Research’s ( A*STAR ) Bioprocessing Technology Institute (BTI). AuctuCel’s flagship platform, Fluxperior, uses both computer modelling with artificial intelligence (AI) to determine the precise mix of nutrients that cells need to thrive in the lab. Typically, cells are grown in mediums, and the ideal composition for each type of cell is typically determined through trial-and-error. This can take more than six months of costly testing. According to AuctuCel, Fluxperior can reduce development costs by up to 80%, shorten timelines by up to 83%, and boost cell productivity by more than 20%. This has major implications for cell-based therapies. Stem cells and other manufactured cell types form the foundation for a wide range of treatments, including transplants for blood-related conditions such as anaemia, leukaemia, lymphoma, and certain inherited immune disorders.
AuctuCel signs distribution agreement with Welala to strengthen its presence in Thailand's biomanufacturing market
🚦✈️ The Bangkok traffic and flight delay ain’t stopping us — Thailand, here we come! 🇹🇭 We’re excited to finally share some news we’ve been holding onto until today: AuctuCel has signed a partnership agreement with Welala as our distribution partner and local expert for the Thailand market. Welala brings more than 10 years of experience in the research and medical industry, growing from DNA sequencing services to longevity products and diagnostics. With this partnership, we’re ready to support Thailand’s biomanufacturing community with precision, innovation, and reliable culture media solutions. Onward to new milestones together! 💜🐙 Chee Wai Fhu Dr.Pongsathorn Chotikasemsri -- www.auctucel.com *Transform biomanufacturing with precision and innovation Source: AuctuCel's LinkedIn post
AuctuCel and CELLAAX Ink MoU to Advance Cell Therapy Innovation with Next-Generation Culture Media
AuctuCel Pte Ltd, a spinoff from A*STAR’s Bioprocessing Technology Institute, and CELLAAX Sdn Bhd, a biopharmaceutical company pioneering stem cell and immunotherapy solutions, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly advance the development and manufacturing of cutting-edge cell therapies. The MoU, signed on 26th June 2025 in Singapore, formalizes a collaboration that leverages AuctuCel’s proprietary media optimization technology and CELLAAX’s therapeutic expertise to improve the quality, consistency, and scalability of advanced cell-based treatments. “This collaboration brings together CELLAAX’s deep therapeutic know-how and AuctuCel’s AI-powered media innovation,” said Dr Fhu Chee Wai, Co-founder and CEO of AuctuCel. “Together, we’re setting a new standard for precision-engineered media that supports not just cell growth, but translational success.” Under the MoU, AuctuCel and CELLAAX will explore joint initiatives aimed at enhancing media development and application for cell therapy manufacturing. This includes the supply of ready-to-use and customized cell culture media, collaborative efforts in optimizing formulations for specific cell types, and joint research activities to evaluate performance and support process development. The partnership also opens pathways for future co-development of novel solutions and technologies, with the shared goal of accelerating the clinical and commercial readiness of advanced therapies.
Optimizing Culture Media Using Small Datasets via New Computer Model
As featured in A*STAR newsroom and Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News. A new spinoff company is about to launch a computer model that aims to accelerate process development by speeding up the optimization of cell culture media. AuctuCel, which plans to open for business on June 1, will offer a mechanistic model that requires less client data to work than those based on artificial intelligence (AI), according to Zach Pang, PhD, group leader at the A*STAR Bioprocessing Technology Institute in Singapore. Pang, who helped develop the model and introduced it at Bioprocessing Summit Europe in March, said, “Our key message is that you no longer have to perform laborious, time-consuming, manual optimization for culture media. Our new computational approach gives you an option that’s much faster and cheaper, helping accelerate your entire development timeline.” Pang explained that the team’s deep knowledge of culture media helped them to develop a mechanistic model, which doesn’t require large training datasets to work. “It doesn’t merely rely on correlation or a statistical method,” he added. “The person who runs our model is a hard-core biologist who’s taken up mechanistic modeling as, for any mechanistical model, you need to know what’s going on.”
