Clinical advancements in cell therapy, particularly CAR-T cell therapy, have created a demand for innovative, closed, automated, and space-efficient manufacturing platforms. Given that each therapeutic product requires a unique manufacturing process, flexibility in process design and automation are essential to accommodate these varying needs.
This webinar will explore recent developments that highlight the ability to adapt an automated manufacturing platform to different processes, such as positively or negatively selecting T cells directly from apheresis. Automatic transfer to an expansion chamber after isolation for further culturing enables a reduction in manual processing. Enabling direct cell isolation from apheresis eliminates the need for additional upstream processing unit operations, thus reducing costs, time, and space requirements. Cell isolation can be achieved using GMP-grade products that enable flexible process design to achieve specific user requirements.
- Successful automation of a CAR-T process with minimal operator intervention
- Implementation of a streamlined process for efficient positive or negative T cell selection from apheresis material
- Flexible process design employing automated platforms that support reduced cost, time, and space requirements
Tamara Laskowski
Senior Director, Clinical Development at Lonza
Dr. Tamara Laskowski is the Senior Director and Head of Clinical & Process Development. In her role, she supports the development of novel T cell and NK cell therapies targeting solid and haematological malignancies and the transition of processes from the pre-clinical stage into clinical manufacturing. Moreover, Dr. Laskowski oversees the implementation of enhanced analytics for monitoring critical attributes associated with product fitness and function.
Dr. Laskowski received a doctorate degree in the fields of Human Molecular Genetics and Immunology from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston where her work focused on targeted genome editing of patient stem cells to correct genetic mutations linked to immune disorders. Dr. Laskowski was awarded a fellowship to the National Science Foundation Innovation Corps program dedicated to training scientists to develop strategies for expanding the economic and societal benefits of innovative ideas that have commercialization potential. She was the sole recipient of an award for outstanding performance upon completion of the program.
Nuala Trainor
Director, R&D, Personalized Medicine at Lonza
Dr Nuala Trainor is the Director of Innovation at Lonza - Personalized Medicine, where she leads a team focused on creating cutting-edge solutions for next-generation cell-based personalized medicine. Her primary emphasis is on the Cocoon® Platform, for which she oversees the system architecture. Dr Trainor is responsible for evaluating both internal innovations and external technologies that complement and enhance the platform.
Prior to her current role, Dr Trainor led Lonza’s Personalized Medicine Biology team and later the R&D team. She has been instrumental in the design of the Cocoon® Platform since 2009, which was subsequently acquired by Lonza. Before joining Lonza, Dr Trainor worked as a Scientist at the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (Rutherford Appleton Laboratory), where she specialized in designing cell culture automation systems.
Dr Trainor holds a Doctorate in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Oxford and a Bachelor of Applied Science in Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry from the University of Toronto.
