The French Experience of Pharmacists and CAR T-Cells: A Study of the French Society of Oncology Pharmacy (SFPO)

Abstract

The aim of this study was to describe the initial 3-year experience in vein-to-vein time for axi-cel therapy and the role of pharmacists in the first recruiting French centers. Retrospective observational data were collected for vein-to-vein time for commercial axi-cel after ≥ 2 lines of systemic therapy between January 2019 and December 2021 in the first 12 authorized French centers. Hospital pharmacists used a circuit database to ensure the prospective traceability at all steps. Totally 501 of the 562 intention-to-treat registrations on the database for cytapheresis (89,1%) led to the infusion of axi-cel. Median vein-to-vein time was shortened by 4 days. This was mainly due to tightening the interval from apheresis to release. The 36-day median vein-to-vein time achieved after 3 years' experience should be compared to the 29-34 days reported in Canada, the USA and Israel, where manufacturing sites are geographically closer to hospital centers than they are in France. The top 5 recruiting centers had the shortest vein-to-vein times. This French experience may serve as a model for other European centers, notably as regards deployment of pharmacists to improve the patient pathway with CAR T-cells and other gene and cellular therapies.

Keywords: CAR T‐cells; patient pathway; pharmaceutical circuit; vein‐to‐vein time.

FIGURE 1

Patient journey intended for axi‐cel: Percentage of patients who underwent apheresis compared to ITT, percentage of patients for whom CAR T‐cells were delivered and then injected compared to patients who underwent apheresis ‐ Median time (median number of days, min, max) for each stage of the process. *registred into the axi‐cel website.