ABSTRACT
In the past decades, progress in the biomedical science eld has led to an overwhelming increase of products from biological origins for treatment of several diseases (Nagle et al., 2003). e rst generation of such therapeutics included recombinant proteins, antibodies, and molecular vaccines. ese new products created the need to develop highly controlled and reproducible bioprocesses that would comply with stringent regulatory demands (e.g., FDA and EMEA). Bioengineers have therefore worked toward this goal and have gathered valuable expertise. More recently, however, cell-based therapies have generated great interest in the scientic and medical communities. e increasing number of companies that are engaged in the development of new cell-based therapies for the treatment of several diseases illustrates this recent trend (Parson, 2008). Nevertheless, the number of cell therapy products that have reached the market is still very small, and the vast majority are still under preclinical development. us, the success of these products is dependent on the development of novel technologies that would allow the systematic production of cells in a robust and cost-eective manner (Kirouac and Zandstra, 2008).
