Automation of cell and gene therapy manufacturing: from vein to vein

Wednesday 08:00 PST / 11:00 EST / 16:00 GMT / 17:00 CET

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Automation of cell and gene therapy manufacturing: from vein to vein

Watch our on demand webinar moderated by leading expert Dr Qasim Rafiq, University College London, as he discusses the latest advances in automation of cell and gene therapies with our expert panel:

Dr Amit Chandra, Yposkesi, France
Dr Jelena Ochs, Fraunhofer Institute
Dr Alaina Schlinker, Fresenius Kabi
Dr Andrew Brown, Allergan Biosciences

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In this webinar they discuss:

The driving forces influencing the decision to move towards more automated processes as part of your manufacturing strategy.
The key lessons we can learn from the biologics industry that help inform the development of innovative automation tools and technologies for cell and gene therapies.
Specific real-world experiences of implementing automation strategies at different stages in the product development life-cycle.
The latest advances in the creation of platforms being developed to tackle the cell and gene therapy manufacturing bottlenecks.
Where the cost burden should lie within the sector to support the development of novel automation tools and platforms.

Qasim Rafiq

Associate Professor of Cell & Gene Therapy Bioprocess Engineering at University College London

Associate professor at UCL’s Advanced Centre for Biochemical Engineering, Qasim’s research focus is on addressing translational challenges of robust manufacture of stem cells that are needed to take regenerative medicines into the clinic. This includes the “whole bioprocess” from sourcing of raw materials and cells, through cell expansion in bioreactors and ultimately the downstream processing needed to purify and concentrate cell product for delivery to the patient. He previously lectured in Bioprocess Engineering at Aston University, where he was Principal Investigator on 4 grants with funding from RCUK, EU Horizon 2020, InnovateUK and commercial sources. Qasim completed his PhD at Loughborough.

Andrew Brown

Associate Director, Process Sciences at Allergan Biologics Ltd

Andrew is the Associate Director, Process Sciences at Allergan Biologics, UK. He has previously worked as the Head of Consultancy at Biopharm Services and received his doctorate from University College London with research on scale up of membrane cartridges.

Amit Chandra

Innovation Manager at Yposkesi

Amit Chandra is Innovation Manager for Cell Therapies at Yposkesi. His role includes working with the Cell Therapy Development Team to identify, commission and install suitable technologies to provide closed systems and scaled production of therapeutics made with pluripotent stem cells. Located in Corbeil-Essonnes, 25 miles south-east of Paris, Yposkesi was created in November 2016 by AFM-Téléthon, France and supported by Bpifrance. The company aims to manufacture the first cell and gene therapy treatments available to patients and market them at a fair and controlled price.

Prior to joining Yposkesi, Amit was at the Centre for Biological Engineering (CBE) at Loughborough University. His responsibilities at the CBE (working with multiple translational academic teams) included setting up the multi-disciplinary research centre, which included a GMP facility and research projects like the Pluripotent Stem Cell Platform funded by the UK Regenerative Medicine Platform. Amit was the Engineering Lead for the Cell Therapy Manufacturing Facility (CTMF) where he worked with the CTMF team for the design, construction and commissioning of a GMP facility. The CTMF was unique as it included an automated GMP-specified cell culture platform (TAP Biosystems/Sartorius Compact Select) incorporating a Grade A processing environment. The facility including the platform was validated to an operational qualification level.

Jelena Ochs

Head of Life Sciences Engineering Business Unit at Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology

Alaina Schlinker

Senior Manager, Cell Therapy Application Support at Fresenius Kabi

Alaina Schlinker has provided application support for the LOVO Cell Processing System since its commercial launch in June 2014. Alaina and her team work with customers to optimize the LOVO Cell Processing System to meet specific applications throughout the cell therapy manufacturing workflow. Alaina’s team alsoworks closely with the Fresenius Kabi R&D group, collaborating to bring customer feedback and Fresenius Kabi’s core competencies together in the development of new technology.

Alaina has degrees in chemical engineering (BS from University of Southern California and PhD from Northwestern University). Her thesis research focused on in vitro platelet production from CD34+ stem and progenitor cells as alternative source of platelets for patients.