Organoids, SC-Islets, & Embryoids
Generate and differentiate complex 3D cultures at scale with controlled aggregate sizing and homogeneous, low-shear mixing.
Precise Control Over Complex 3D Differentiation
Organoid and stem cell (SC)-islet workflows require gentle mixing, consistent mass transfer, and control over 3D structure. Vertical-Wheel® Bioreactors provide a homogeneous, low-shear environment that supports controlled aggregate size and reproducible differentiation in suspension, all in the same vessel.
Homogeneous mixing yields narrow aggregate and organoid size distributions, the critical quality attribute for reproducible, efficient differentiation.
A rare combination of low shear for high viability with effective dispersion, so growth factors and cytokines diffuse uniformly through every organoid.
Multi-week protocols run start-to-finish in suspension and scale linearly: a 5x volume increase can deliver 12x more islets with no compromise in quality.
Aggregate, Embryoid Body, or Organoid
These 3D structures are not interchangeable. They differ in differentiation state, organization, and intended use—but each benefits from the controlled suspension environment of the Vertical-Wheel® that supports consistent formation and growth.
A high quality, compact 3D cluster of pluripotent stem cells is the key to any differentiation workflow.
A differentiating 3D structure containing derivatives of the three germ layers, often used to model early development or initiate downstream differentiation.
A self-organizing 3D structure differentiated from pluripotent stem cells to reproduce selected structural or functional characteristics of a target tissue.
Cells isolated from adult tissue and re-aggregated into functional constructs such as hepatic seed constructs for liver therapeutics.
From Therapeutics to Functional Models
Explore workflows spanning stem-cell-derived islets, organoids, embryoid bodies, disease models, and drug-screening applications.
Expert Application Support- Insulin-Producing SC-islets
- Liver Organoids
- Brain & Cerebellar Organoids
- Retinal Organoids
- Blood-Vessel Organoids
- Embryoids (EBs)
- Disease Modeling
- Drug & Tox Screening
The Therapy or the Model
SC-derived 3D constructs can serve as the therapeutic product itself or as physiologically relevant models for disease research, drug development, and toxicology. Vertical-Wheel® Bioreactors enable both workflows in an almost endless array of possibilities.
iPSC-derived islet therapy for type 1 diabetes
Run multi-stage iPSC expansion and islet differentiation directly in Vertical-Wheel suspension, from PSCs through glucose-responsive SC-islets.
Disease modeling & drug testing
Create physiologically relevant 3D models for disease research, toxicology, and drug development while controlling key culture conditions that influence organoid maturation and organization.
Setting the Standard, Together
PBS Biotech is a member of the Organoid COMMONS, a pre-competitive public-private consortium working to advance standards for how iPSC-derived organoids are manufactured, measured, and characterized.
By contributing scalable suspension bioprocessing expertise, PBS Biotech is helping establish more reproducible workflows for organoid development and manufacturing.
Unity
A collaborative effort bringing together expertise in cell sourcing, defined microenvironments, scalable manufacturing, and analytical characterization.
Standardization
Greater standardization and reproducibility will help organoid models become more useful across research, development, and emerging regulatory applications.
Scale
Vertical-Wheel technology provides a scalable suspension platform spanning 60mL to 80L for translating organoid workflows from development toward larger-volume manufacturing.
The Organoid COMMONS is a public-private consortium organized by Pluristyx, working across founding members in iPSC sourcing, defined microenvironments, and scalable manufacturing and analytics.
Data Behind 3D Differentiation
Application notes, protocols and peer-reviewed data with tangible results in Vertical-Wheel® Bioreactors, leading with the studies that show real numbers.
This publication reports a fully suspended process for expansion and six-stage differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells into stem cell-derived islets in 0.1 L and 0.5 L Vertical-Wheel® Bioreactors. A fivefold increase in vessel volume produced a twelvefold increase in islet-equivalent yield without compromising islet structure. The 27-day process generated endocrine populations expressing ?-, ?-, and ?-cell markers with glucose-responsive insulin secretion and transcriptomic characteristics approaching adult islets. The study also evaluated donor-derived iPSC lines, cellular…
This publication describes scalable generation of multilineage liver organoids from human pluripotent stem cells in a PBS-Mini Vertical-Wheel® Bioreactor. Studies evaluated how Activin A concentration directs endoderm and mesenchymal lineage development. High concentrations promoted homogeneous definitive endoderm induction and hepatic maturation markers, while lower concentrations generated early liver diverticula-like structures with lumens, hepatic mesenchyme, endothelial markers, and extracellular matrix organization. Transcriptomic, immunohistochemical, and developmental analyses…
This publication describes scalable human pluripotent stem cell expansion and growth factor-directed cardiomyocyte differentiation in Vertical-Wheel® Bioreactors. Studies evaluated inoculation, agitation, medium exchange, aggregate size, metabolism, viability, and pluripotency before optimizing differentiation with BMP4, Activin A, and bFGF. The process produced more than one million cardiac troponin T-positive cells/mL and was reproduced at 500 mL, averaging 1.11 million cardiomyocytes/mL and 93% cardiac purity. Cells displayed expected electrophysiological and contractile properties and…
This publication spotlight summarizes an independent study of human induced pluripotent stem cell expansion and differentiation into stem cell-derived islets using Vertical-Wheel® Bioreactors. A 27-day, six-stage suspension process was performed in 0.1 L and 0.5 L vessels. A fivefold increase in vessel scale generated a reported twelvefold increase in islet-equivalent yield while maintaining controlled islet size and limiting large aggregate formation. The resulting islets expressed human islet hormones and markers associated with beta-like cell identity, glucose responsiveness, and…
This publication examines scalable differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells into insulin-producing cells using planar CellSTACK cultures and PBS-Mini Vertical-Wheel® Bioreactors. Cells maintained greater than 80% viability and appropriate stage-specific markers throughout the seven-stage process. Early stages supported expansion and pancreatic progenitor formation, followed by reduced proliferation during endocrine differentiation. Limiting aggregate fusion improved later-stage yield. Metabolic analysis showed a shift from glycolysis toward oxidative phosphorylation, while glucose and…
This publication characterizes extracellular vesicles (EVs), including exosome-enriched populations, produced by human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived retinal organoids cultured in a Vertical-Wheel® Bioreactor. EVs from retinal organoids were compared with those from human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells based on concentration, morphology, protein content, nanomechanical properties, markers, and proteomic composition. Retinal organoid-derived EVs showed distinct protein signatures associated with retinal development and function, with differences across organoid developmental…
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