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. 2021 Feb;23(2):157-164.
doi: 10.1016/j.jcyt.2020.09.013. Epub 2020 Nov 12.

Processing laboratory considerations for multi-center cellular therapy clinical trials: a report from the Consortium for Pediatric Cellular Immunotherapy

Catherine Lindgren  1 , Ashley Leinbach  2 , Julie Annis  3 , Jay Tanna  4 , Nan Zhang  4 , Jonathan H Esensten  2 , Patrick J Hanley  5
Affiliations

Processing laboratory considerations for multi-center cellular therapy clinical trials: a report from the Consortium for Pediatric Cellular Immunotherapy

Catherine Lindgren et al. Cytotherapy. 2021 Feb.

Abstract

``Cellular therapies first emerged as specialized therapies only available at a few "boutique" centers worldwide. To ensure broad access to these investigational therapies-regardless of geography, demographics and other factors-more and more academic clinical trials are becoming multi-center. Such trials are typically performed with a centralized manufacturing facility receiving the starting material and shipping the final product, either fresh or cryopreserved, to the patient's institution for infusion. As these academic multi-center trials increase in number, it is critical to have procedures and training programs in place to allow these sites that are remote from the production facility to successfully participate in these trials and satisfy regulatory compliance and patient safety best practices. Based on the collective experience of the Consortium for Pediatric Cellular Immunotherapy, the authors summarize the challenges encountered by institutions in shipping and receiving the starting material and final product as well as preparing the final product for infusion. The authors also discuss best practices implemented by each of the consortia institutions to overcome these challenges.

Keywords: cell processing; cellular therapy; clinical trials; immunotherapy.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Statement:

PJH has patents related to cellular therapies and is a co-founder and consultant of Mana Therapeutics and serves on their board of directors and serves on the board of directors of the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT).

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Multi-institutional flow chart for cellular therapy products. The life cycle of autologous cellular therapy products, starting from apheresis collection, moving to the manufacturing laboratory, and finally being shipped to the infusion facility.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Qualification Questionnaire for Infusion Sites. An example questionnaire that is used to qualify cell therapy sites for infusion.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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