Optimizing and standardizing the cryopreservation of cellular samples: new data and insights from the UK’s Advanced Therapy Treatment Centres program

Live30 webinars are thirty minute presentations designed to update you on the latest innovations, applications and data in a fast yet interactive format.

The Advanced Therapy Treatment Centres (ATTC) network program - coordinated by the UK’s Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult (CGT Catapult) - addresses the complex challenges of bringing pioneering Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs) to patients. The ATTC networks look at standardizing cryogenic cold chain processes for cell therapies, with the aim to develop robust systems for the routine delivery of ATMPs throughout the UK’s NHS. Successful cryopreservation is a crucial step in manufacturing for effective clinical delivery. It also provides a commercially robust business model for ATMPs. The vital parameters to consider for successful cryopreservation include the:

• application of an optimal cooling rate 
• use and careful addition of an adapted cryoprotective solution
• choice of the cooling unit (controlled-rate freezer)
• end-to-end traceability of cryopreserved starting material/product
• minimization of contamination risk
• reproducibility of the cryopreservation process

This webinar takes a deep dive into the challenges of cryopreserving ATMP starting material and final therapy. Plus, we’ll discuss how a liquid nitrogen-free controlled rate freezer can help you achieve successful cryopreservation of different cellular therapy products.

Hear insights from industry leaders - including, Sandeep Kumar, Cell Therapy Advanced Specialist for NHSBT, UK and Dr. Julie Meneghel, Cytiva - about new research findings from the UK National Health Service Blood and Transplant (NHSBT).

After the webinar, join us for a live Q&A to discuss key considerations required to achieve optimal post-thaw outcomes and scalable, GMP-compliant cryopreservation.

• The post-thaw outcome of a range of therapeutically relevant cell types - from stem cells to T cells -and their differential robustness to cryopreservation
• The pros and cons of LN2 and LN2-free technologies for the cryopreservation of ATMP starting material and final product from NHSBT’s perspective
• The importance of cooling and warming rates for a successful cell cryopreservation outcome
• The importance of sample volume considerations and why you should carefully consider sample release criteria based on the post-thaw outcome of quality control (QC) samples

Julie Meneghel

Julie is a scientist with expertise in cryobiology. She has been applying this expertise in the private sector for five years after completing a multi-disciplinary PhD at University Paris-Saclay, France in collaboration with the French national institute of agronomic research (INRA) and the French national synchrotron facility (Synchrotron SOLEIL) – microbiology, biophysics, cryobiology. Today, she is part of the Cell and Gene Therapy team within Cytiva where she conducts R&D projects related to cryopreservation to support customers and the introduction of new products to Cytiva’s cryo portfolio. She is also involved in applied and more fundamental research projects either internally or through a variety of collaborations with the NHS, industry and academia mainly across the UK and in Europe, covering the freezing, the cryogenic storage and shipping, and the thawing of mammalian cells, with a particular focus on cell therapies.

Sandeep Kumar

Cell Therapy Advanced Specialist at NHS Blood and Transplant

Sandeep Kumar is currently Head of Advanced Therapy Production at Guy's and St Thomas NHS Trust. He received his PhD in 2015 at the University of Brighton, UK, for his work within the Diabetes Research Group Laboratory of Dr Wendy Macfarlane, where he conducted molecular analysis to understand the role of Programmed Cell Death Gene 4 (Tumour suppressor) role in pancreatic cells. He continued his research career in the field of Pancreatic cancer, Diabetes, and Islet transplantation as a postdoctoral fellow at Cellon S.A., Luxemburg (2015 to 2017) and Barts Cancer Institute, London (2017 to 2018). He subsequently joined Ixaka (formally Rexgenro Ltd), Seville, Spain as Cell Therapy Production Scientist, worked on highly innovative autologous cell therapy product that was being studied in two Phase III clinical trials in patients with Critical Limb Ischemia with diabetes. In 2019, Sandeep joined NHS blood and transplant (NHSBT) as a cell therapy advanced specialist at Barnsley, UK. Since then, he is NHSBT's lead scientist on Northern Alliance-Advanced Therapy Treatment Centres (NA-ATTC) and the SAMPLE project.

Watch now

SPEAKERS

Julie Meneghel

Sandeep Kumar

Cell Therapy Advanced Specialist at NHS Blood and Transplant

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