Lonza teams with hospital to produce CAR-T cells at point-of-care

18-Mar-2019 - Last updated on 20-Mar-2019 at 15:33 GMT

(Image: Getty/dk_photos)

Lonza and Israel-based Sheba Medical collaborate to use the CDMO’s manufacturing platform for point-of-care genetically engineered human CAR-T cell production.

Through the agreement Sheba, the largest hospital in Israel and the Middle East region will be able to bolster its in-house cell manufacturing process to produce human CAR-T cells for applications at point-of-care treatment.

Lonza, a Swiss contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), will transfer Sheba’s current open, manual protocols, into Lonza’s closed automated Cocoon platfor

Lonza cassette on cocoon — (Image: Lonza) Cassette on Cocoon

The Cocoon platform was developed by Lonza in a collaboration with Octane Biotech. It is a good manufacturing process (GMP) concept for autologous cell therapy manufacturing.

Use of the manufacturing platform will provide Sheba with the capability to produce cell therapies in a scalable manner at a lower cost.

A spokesperson for Lonza told us that the Cocoon is currently in beta-testing and is now at a stage where the company is looking to test the system at the point of care.

“The goal is to make the Cocoon available to clinics as well as biotech and pharma companies, enabling them to treat more patients and reduce the costs of goods,” the spokesperson added.

Dror Harats, deputy director for research and development, director of Clinical Trials at Sheba Medical Center, said in a statement, “With the collaborative potential of this venture, we look forward to jointly leading the next personalized cell-therapy revolution.”