Developing Efficient Models to Define Economic and Low Risk High Value Manufacture of Cell Based Products

Lead Research Organisation: Loughborough University
Department Name: Wolfson Sch of Mech, Elec & Manufac Eng

Abstract

New treatments for disease are increasingly made from biological materials rather than the chemicals in conventional drugs. The most advanced of these treatments use humans cells as treatments for serious and incurable diseases. Recent successes include dramatic long term remission of previously untreatable blood cancers. However, the manufacturing of such products is highly complex compared to a conventional drug. Products have to be 'grown', sometime over weeks or months, rather than quickly synthesised in a chemical reactor. This creates many challenges for manufacture. In particular there are many opportunities for the manufacturing environment to move outside an acceptable range. This can mean the product grows into the wrong number or type of cells. Further, cells talk to each other through the release of small signalling agents and deplete things from the environment around them. This creates a complex system that evolves over time, and a potentially very expensive system to handle for a manufacturer. Many current manufacturing processes for these new treatments are exceedingly inefficient and high risk due to a poor understanding of these issues.
We propose to create mathematical models of these relationships so that manufacturers can create their products at lower cost and with lower risk of process failure. We propose to use different types of modelling for optimum efficiency. The first will efficiently screen for things that affect the cells being grown. The second is a specific type of modelling that describes a system in terms of the rate of change of its components and is therefore good for modelling systems that evolve with time. These models will help us understand how to control manufacture for maximum efficiency and acceptable risk.
Avoiding process failure is very important because some of these products could be dangerous if the wrong cells are produced. Furthermore if a patient's own cells are being grown to treat them there is no replacement product available if manufacture fails. If we succeed it will help the UK see more ground breaking therapies at market as well as supporting a high value manufacturing industry contributing to UK economic growth.

Planned Impact

Cell therapies are poised to revolutionise serious and previously incurable medical conditions (e.g. cancers, macular degeneration, and Parkinson's disease). As such research that enables manufacturing and hence clinical delivery of products at a scale and economy suitable for market demand stands to benefit the clinical community and patient groups that currently have no alternative treatment options. In the case of just one immunopharmacology company (of many) this is projected to translate to 4000 terminally ill patients per year. Yet manufacturing control and variability issues are still cited as one of the main threats to clinical realisation; manufacturing efficiency and control solutions will be critical to enabling successful commercialisation and hence clinical impact.
The proposed research will impact the clinical and patient end users through providing cell therapy product developers and manufacturers with methodologies for optimal and robust manufacturing process design including determination of operationally targeted process models, key process variables, and improved input material specifications. Our proof of principle data indicates a fuller model based understanding of manufacture operation, in particular medium component delivery, could deliver order of magnitude improvements in key process metrics such as volumetric productivity, cell output to input yield, and cell phenotype control. This level of change in productivity is likely to make the difference between commercial viability and therefore clinical reality of some cell based products. It would also generate commensurate value in the novel manufacturing input materials and methods. The impact plan will ensure that these innovations are exploited through careful IP planning, partnering and licencing to ensure the UK economy retains the added value to manufacturing processes. The proposed research will further support product developers/manufactures, and therefore patients/clinic, through facilitating regulatory approval of new products. Medicinal product regulators (i.e. MHRA, EMA, FDA) are essentially looking for evidence that risk of issues with product safety or efficacy have been rigorously defined. An appropriately defined and tested modelling approach could provide a new gold standard for regulatory submission.
A project that is successful in enabling more efficient and robust manufacturing options for new cell based therapeutics this will have direct societal and economic impacts through two routes: via improved population health through increased product availability and from capturing (in the UK) the intellectual property associated with the methodological expertise and novel design of physical process inputs associated with delivering improved manufacturing processes. Further academic impacts will arise through increased control of cell culture based experimental systems and framing of new hypotheses.

Publications

10 25 50
 
Description Various types of blood cells grown in bioreactors have the potential for treating human diseases. The objectives of the award were to use modelling approaches to define the rate of delivery of specific factors required to support blood cell growth in bioreactors, thereby improving the efficiency and control of these processes. These approaches allowed us to achieve intensification of the production process for blood cells in reactors that can be transferred to large scale. We achieved multiple higher levels of cells out of bioreactors compared to previous efforts enabling lower cost production and the ability to produce therapeutic numbers of cells from smaller systems. We identified the ratio of use of specific factors that supported these outcomes and how to stably formulate these factors for application. We further demonstrated how simple models could effectively be used to predict the quantities and timing of the delivery of these factors. This work identified further specific limits relating to production of these cells including requirements for perfusion systems and improved gas transfer; these challenges have been taken up within a commercial start-up company.
Exploitation Route The expertise and knowledge generated has been embodied in two companies. One of these is developing blood as a manufactured product. The other has provided model based process development services for biotechnology manufacture.
Sectors Manufacturing

including Industrial Biotechology

 
Description The purpose of this grant was to develop better and more efficient methods for modelling manufacturing of cell and gene therapies. We have established a contract research organisation that has used expertise form the team to supply research services to international partners, currently split between the US and UK but predominantly in the former. Development of methods and approaches from this funding has enabled that organisation to grow, moving from a virtual company with subcontract relationships to the University, to an entity with independent lab space, employees (who worked on the grant), and a sustainable pipeline.
Sector Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology
Impact Types Economic

 
Description Cell Therapy Manufacturing
Amount £192,717 (GBP)
Organisation Advanced Bioprocess Services Ltd 
Sector Private
Country United Kingdom
Start 01/2020 
End 12/2025
 
Description Modelling Pluripotent Stem Cell Manufacture - Industrial Studentship
Amount £130,211 (GBP)
Organisation Advanced Bioprocess Services Ltd 
Sector Private
Country United Kingdom
Start 03/2019 
End 03/2022
 
Company Name SAFI Biosolutions UK Limited 
Description  
Year Established 2021 
Impact Established an economic manufacturing platform for therapeutic blood products
 
Company Name Advanced Bioprocess Services Limited 
Description  
Year Established 2016 
Impact Worked with a range of early stage cell and gene therapy companies to deliver novel, economic, and robust manufacturing processes for pre-clinical models; provided the development services that have directly supported in excess of $20M of private raise.