ICLE 2022 – VJRegenMed

Streamlining cell therapy manufacturing with CliniMACS Prodigy

Simon Ng — Thu, 28 Apr 2022 08:38:41 +0000

Saskia Rösch, PhD, Miltenyi Biotec, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany, gives an overview of CliniMACS Prodigy, a novel next-generation automated cell processing platform that aims to separate and process cell cultures for the manufacturing of cell therapies. The closed, scalable system enables the production of good manufacturing practice (GMP) compliant products of consistent quality in a safe and clean environment. CliniMACS Prodigy additionally is flexible in a centralized or decentralized setting and can be used for various cell types including induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cells and natural killer (NK) cells. This interview took place at the International Conference on Lymphocyte Engineering (ICLE) 2022.

Implementing automation technology in the CGT space

Simon Ng — Thu, 28 Apr 2022 08:38:40 +0000

The advent of automation has brought improvements in the manufacturing of advanced therapies in terms of reducing the number of staff needed, cost, and safety. Saskia Rösch, PhD, Miltenyi Biotec, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany, discusses potential barriers developers might face in automating their manufacturing processes. Companies will need to make sure the product can be translated from a research to clinical setting, as well as if the reagents can be scaled-up if necessary. This interview took place at the International Conference on Lymphocyte Engineering (ICLE) 2022.

Utilizing flow cytometry in CAR T-cell research

Simon Ng — Thu, 28 Apr 2022 08:38:38 +0000

Saskia Rösch, PhD, Miltenyi Biotec, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany, comments on the importance of flow cytometry in the characterization of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cells. Standardization of flow cytometry techniques is necessary to optimize CAR T-cell therapies, and Dr Rösch discusses automated workflow solutions offered by Miltenyi, as well as CAR detectors that can quantify CAR T-cells in a given sample. She additionally highlights a consortium that will create a gold standard for the analysis of engineered CAR T-cells. This interview took place at the International Conference on Lymphocyte Engineering (ICLE) 2022.

PiggyBac Transposon-generated CAR T-cells in solid tumors

Simon Ng — Thu, 21 Apr 2022 16:45:47 +0000

Shigeki Yagyu, MD, PhD, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan, discusses the future of PiggyBac transposon-mediated chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies. A clinical trial is imminently underway to assess a CAR T-cell therapy based on PiggyBac transposon technology in HER2+ bone sarcoma and gynecological cancers. Preclinical studies assessing the treatment has yielded promising results in sarcoma and brain tumors in terms of efficacy and long-term functionality. This interview took place at the International Conference on Lymphocyte Engineering (ICLE) 2022.

CAR T-cell therapy for neuroblastoma

Simon Ng — Thu, 21 Apr 2022 16:45:46 +0000

Shigeki Yagyu, MD, PhD, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan, gives an overview of promising chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies for neuroblastoma. Despite current immunotherapies such as dinutuximab and naxitamab being available, prognoses remain poor in patients. PiggyBac transposon-mediated chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies represent an alternative option for patients and clinical trials are underway to assess safety and efficacy. The PiggyBac transposon will hopefully solve issues relating to cell exhaustion and tumor control and the technology may potentially be utilized in natural killer (NK) cells. This interview took place at the International Conference on Lymphocyte Engineering (ICLE) 2022.

Optimizing the upscaling and outscaling of CAR T-cell therapies

Simon Ng — Thu, 14 Apr 2022 15:56:43 +0000

Saskia Rösch, PhD, Miltenyi Biotec, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany, describes novel approaches to enhance chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell manufacturing. Upscaling can incur cost-related barriers, especially for T-cell receptor (TCR) and allogeneic therapies in solid tumor indications, and utilizing non-viral vectors as well as reducing the cultivation time may ameliorate the aforementioned issues. Developers additionally face issues in outscaling due to complications in material and documentation management, and Dr Rösch suggests decentralization as a potential solution. Regulatory authorities must also collaborate to expedite the development of T-cell therapies. This interview took place at the International Conference on Lymphocyte Engineering (ICLE) 2022.

Direct detection and isolation of CAR cells from patient samples

Simon Ng — Thu, 14 Apr 2022 15:56:42 +0000

Saskia Rösch, PhD, Miltenyi Biotec, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany, discusses strategies to isolate and identify chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) from patient samples for the purposes of quality control. Dr Rösch outlines a CAR detection agent that finds active CARs by detecting CD19, CD22, CD33, and B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) in the product, as well as measure their transduction rate. Monitoring the efficacy of CAR T-cell therapies can additionally be carried out by assessing metabolome of CAR T-cells. This interview took place at the International Conference on Lymphocyte Engineering (ICLE) 2022.

Targeting neoantigens in multiple myeloma with CAR T-cell

Simon Ng — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 11:18:09 +0000

Anti-B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies such as ciltacabtagene autoleucel and idecabtagene vicleucel have made a positive impact on the treatment landscape of multiple myeloma. However, tumor heterogeneity, antigen escape and an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment are barriers CAR T-cell therapies currently face. Angela Krackhard, MD, PhD, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany, describes research on neoantigens and its benefits. As neoantigens are only found in the tumor, off-target effects such as B-cell aplasia and cytokine release syndrome (CRS) are reduced. Utilizing alternative targets such as SLAMF7 and CD38, as well as bispecific CAR T-cells represent novel strategies to optimize immunotherapies for multiple myeloma. This interview took place at the International Conference on Lymphocyte Engineering (ICLE) 2022.

Moving CAR T-cell therapies to earlier lines of therapy in multiple myeloma

Simon Ng — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 11:18:07 +0000

Angela Krackhard, MD, PhD, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany, comments on the impact of ciltacabtagene autoleucel (cilta-cel) in the multiple myeloma treatment landscape. Cilta-cel is chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy with two recognition epitopes that target B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) and had displayed encouraging results for patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, especially in those who progress from proteosome inhibitors and anti-CD38 antibodies. It additionally is being assessed in earlier settings, especially due to the heterogeneity of the disease. This interview took place at the International Conference on Lymphocyte Engineering (ICLE) 2022.

Engineering NK cell-based cancer treatments

Simon Ng — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 11:18:06 +0000

Juliane Mietz, University Of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, comments on ongoing research to develop anti-cancer natural killer (NK) cell therapies. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-NK cells were initially studied alongside CAR T-cell, where both were engineered with CD28 or a 4-1BB costimulatory domains, domains found in axicabtagene ciloleucel and tisagenlecleucel, to assess the clinical efficacy of CAR-NK cells. Further pre-clinical studies involving CAR-NK cells are additionally underway to enhance their cytotoxicity in patients. This interview took place at the International Conference on Lymphocyte Engineering (ICLE) 2022.