Having The Right Conversations
We Need to Talk About Cell and Gene Therapy
The cell and gene therapy industry remains strong at the end of a difficult year; in fact, innovation continues to accelerate at breakneck speed. That’s why the time is now to ensure progress is being made with the needs of the patient – as defined by the patient – in mind.
2020 has been a challenging year for everyone. Yet, an Alliance of Regenerative Medicine report found that funding for cell and gene developers in the first half of 2020 was double what it was in 2019. So if there’s one word that sums up the state of the field at the end of 2020, it’s resilience. But a second might be excitement! As you will find in our Cell + Gene Curator year-in-review, we’ve seen the discovery of cells able to kill most human cancer types in mice, genetically engineered macrophages and allogeneic T cells that can kill solid tumors (also in mice), 78 percent response rates in an allogeneic CAR T trial, 25/29 complete responses in J&Js anti-BCMA CAR T, and even another CAR T approval – and that’s just in cancer cell therapy.
The field is progressing at breakneck speed. And that’s why it’s important we progress with the needs of the patient – as defined by the patient – in mind. For example, when it comes to genomic medicine, do patients understand that they are consenting to a fundamentally different kind of treatment – one that may become part of their body for the rest of their lives? In this year’s Cell and Gene Therapy Supplement, industry leaders explain what excites them most about cell and gene therapy today. And then kick off crucial discussion topics for a field looking towards the future.
As well as looking forward, we also take a trip down memory lane. While cell and gene therapies are now considered mainstream therapeutic modalities – with revolutionary potential – that hasn’t always been the case. ISCT tells us how the cell and gene story first began.
Also in this year’s supplement, we sit down with Vered Caplan, who is on a mission to bring researchers, hospitals and technology companies to come together to make cell and gene therapies more accessible to patients.
James Strachan, Deputy Editor, The Medicine Maker
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Cell and gene therapies hold the promise to change lives. Even as the path to patients accelerates, manufacturing and regulatory complexity remains a challenge. With limited process templates, evolving regulatory guidance, and urgent patient needs, finding a partner with experience is critical to your success.
From solving your unique upstream and downstream challenges, to meeting urgent manufacturing timelines, and navigating uncertain regulatory guidelines, a knowledgeable partner can help move your cell and gene therapy from hype to hope.
At MilliporeSigma, we’re giving shape to cell and gene therapy development every day. We bring 30+ years of expertise, and a global organization to integrate leading manufacturing technologies with process development, scale-up, safety testing, and the regulatory experience to meet your therapy’s needs.
We have more experience in this area than almost anyone else in the industry. We were the first gene therapy CDMO to produce commercial product following successful regulatory inspection. Our products and services include optimized manufacturing platforms, media and reagents; manufacturing, biosafety and characterization testing, as well as process development services.
Draw on our experience to bring your cell and gene therapies to life.
Cell therapy
Gene therapy
Visit our Cell and Gene Therapy Virtual Gallery for an interactive experience of our cell and gene therapy production solutions.
Sartorius is a well-respected global solution provider within the biologics industry, especially for antibody and vaccine production. Our proven products and services are being diversified for upstream and downstream processing of cells and viruses for allogeneic and autologous advanced therapies.
Therapy development can benefit from our single use systems, intelligent equipment and analytics. Combined, these help speed up your process development and support your manufacturing goals.
Please ask our specialists for more information about our portfolio for any stage of your individual process:
- Cellular Immunotherapy
- Gene Therapy and Viral Vectors
- Cell Therapy
For more info visit: www.sartorius.com/regenerative-medicine
