A consensus introduction to serum replacements and serum-free media for cellular therapies

The cell therapy industry is a fast-growing industry targeted toward a myriad of clinical indications. As the cell therapy industry matures and clinical trials hit their pivotal Phase 3 studies, there will be a significant need for scale-up, process validation, and critical raw material quality assurance. Part of the well discussed challenges of upscaling manufacturing processes there is a less discussed issue relating to the availability of raw materials in the needed quality and quantities. The FDA recently noted that over 80% of the 66 investigational new drug (IND) applications for mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) products analyzed described the use of FBS during manufacturing. Accumulated data from the past years show an acceleration in serum consumption by at least 10%-15% annually, which suggests that the global demand for serum may soon exceed the supply. Ongoing concerns of safety issues due to risks of various pathogen contaminations, as well as issues related to the aforementioned serum variability that can affect final product reproducibility, are strong motivators to search for serum substitutes or serum-free media. it is important to note that there are no accepted definitions for most of these terms which leads to misleading's and misunderstandings, where the same term might be defined differently by different vendors, manufacturer, and users. It is the drug developer's responsibility to clarify what the supplied labels mean and to identify the correct questions and audits to ensure quality. The paper reviews the available serum replacements, main components, basic strategies for replacement of serum and suggests definitions.

Concise Review: Process Development Considerations for Cell Therapy

The development of robust and well-characterized methods of production of cell therapies has become increasingly important as therapies advance through clinical trials toward approval. A successful cell therapy will be a consistent, safe, and effective cell product, regardless of the cell type or application. Process development strategies can be developed to gain efficiency while maintaining or improving safety and quality profiles. This review presents an introduction to the process development challenges of cell therapies and describes some of the tools available to address production issues. This article will provide a summary of what should be considered to efficiently advance a cellular therapy from the research stage through clinical trials and finally toward commercialization. The identification of the basic questions that affect process development is summarized in the target product profile, and considerations for process optimization are discussed. The goal is to identify potential manufacturing concerns early in the process so they may be addressed effectively and thus increase the probability that a therapy will be successful.

SIGNIFICANCE

The present study contributes to the field of cell therapy by providing a resource for those transitioning a potential therapy from the research stage to clinical and commercial applications. It provides the necessary steps that, when followed, can result in successful therapies from both a clinical and commercial perspective.

Critical elements in the development of cell therapy potency assays for ischemic conditions

A successful potency assay for a cell therapy product (CTP) used in the treatment of ischemic conditions should quantitatively measure relevant biological properties that predict therapeutic activity. This is especially challenging because of numerous degrees of complexity stemming from factors that include a multifactorial complex mechanism of action, cell source, inherent cell characteristics, culture method, administration mode and the in vivo conditions to which the cells are exposed. The expected biological function of a CTP encompasses complex interactions that range from a biochemical, metabolic or immunological activity to structural replacement of damaged tissue or organ. Therefore, the requirements for full characterization of the active substance with respect to biological function could be taxing. Moreover, the specific mechanism of action is often difficult to pinpoint to a specific molecular entity; rather, it is more dependent on the functionality of the cellular components acting in a in a multifactorial fashion. In the case of ischemic conditions, the cell therapy mechanism of action can vary from angiogenesis, vasculogenesis and arteriogenesis that may activate different pathways and clinical outcomes. The CTP cellular attributes with relation to the suggested mechanism of action can be used for the development of quantitative and reproducible analytical potency assays. CTPs selected and released on the basis of such potency assays should have the highest probability of providing meaningful clinical benefit for patients. This White Paper will discuss and give examples for key elements in the development of a potency assay for treatment of ischemic disorders treated by the use of CTPs.

Cell Therapy: Early Process Development and Optimization of the Manufacturing Process are Critical to Ensure Viability of the Product, Quality, Consistency and Cost Efficiency

In recent years cell therapies have evolved and matured, moving from academia to industry. Scale up of a process is the natural path of any product evolutionary development and maturation, this process not only allows higher manufacturing capacity to meet demands but rather to increases the yields and reduces cost of goods. Cells are living things that react to the environment and conditions in which they grow, therefore process changes should be done as early as possible. The traditional 2D culturing systems can be truly up scaled, therefore there is a need to advance to bioreactors that will influence the product. Additionally, in order to make cell therapy a viable one, the cost of manufacturing is critical. Cost drivers such as media, serum, footprint, human resource and infrastructure must be optimized without changing the cells critical quality attributes. The paper analyze the main cost drivers on the cost of goods and is based on the experience of cell manufacturing in both traditional 2D and three dimensional (3D) bioreactor systems produced in Pluristem therapeutics GMP site. Furthermore, the paper discussed possible process development steps to insure cost efficiency emphasizing the need and benefit of early process development investment.   

Concise review: guidance in developing commercializable autologous/patient-specific cell therapy manufacturing

Cell therapy is poised to play an enormous role in regenerative medicine. However, little guidance is being made available to academic and industrial entities in the start-up phase. In this technical review, members of the International Society for Cell Therapy provide guidance in developing commercializable autologous and patient-specific manufacturing strategies from the perspective of process development. Special emphasis is placed on providing guidance to small academic or biotech researchers as to what simple questions can be addressed or answered at the bench in order to make their cell therapy products more feasible for commercial-scale production. We discuss the processes that are required for scale-out at the manufacturing level, and how many questions can be addressed at the bench level. The goal of this review is to provide guidance in the form of topics that can be addressed early in the process of development to better the chances of the product being successful for future commercialization.

Canine procalcitonin messenger RNA expression

Procalcitonin is considered an acute phase protein used as both a marker of infection and prognosis in human medicine. Canine procalcitonin has been previously sequenced; however, its use as a diagnostic or prognostic tool in dogs has never been assessed. A quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) assay for canine procalcitonin messenger RNA (mRNA) was developed. Whole blood samples were collected from ill and healthy dogs. RNA was extracted and the real-time PCR was assessed. The patients' diagnoses, complete blood cell count, and differential leukocyte count results were recorded. Based on the diagnosis, dogs were divided into 5 groups: inflammatory, infectious, neoplastic, other diseases, and healthy controls. Procalcitonin mRNA expression and the hematological measures were compared between groups, and their correlations were assessed. Procalcitonin mRNA expression was assessed in 70 dogs, including infectious (17), noninfectious inflammatory (17), neoplastic (18), other diseases (7), and healthy controls (11), and was significantly (P < 0.001) higher in all ill dogs versus controls. Procalcitonin may therefore be considered an acutephase protein in dogs. However, there were no significant differences in procalcitonin mRNA expression between ill dog groups and no correlations between its expression levels and hematological measures. In 5 dogs of all disease categories, procalcitonin mRNA expression was measured twice during the course of disease. The changes in its levels were in agreement with the clinical evaluation of improvement or deterioration, suggesting a possible prognostic value.

Enhancement of hybridoma formation, clonability and cell proliferation in a nanoparticle-doped aqueous environment

Background

The isolation and production of human monoclonal antibodies is becoming an increasingly important pursuit as biopharmaceutical companies migrate their drug pipelines away from small organic molecules. As such, optimization of monoclonal antibody technologies is important, as this is becoming the new rate-limiting step for discovery and development of new pharmaceuticals. The major limitations of this system are the efficiency of isolating hybridoma clones, the process of stabilizing these clones and optimization of hybridoma cell secretion, especially for large-scale production.

Many previous studies have demonstrated how perturbations in the aqueous environment can impact upon cell biology. In particular, radio frequency (RF) irradiation of solutions can have dramatic effects on behavior of solutions, cells and in particular membrane proteins, although this effect decays following removal of the RF. Recently, it was shown that nanoparticle doping of RF irradiated water (NPD water) produced a stabilized aqueous medium that maintained the characteristic properties of RF irradiated water for extended periods of time. Therefore, the ordering effect in water of the RF irradiation can now be studied in systems that required prolonged periods for analysis, such as eukaryotic cell culture. Since the formation of hybridoma cells involves the formation of a new membrane, a process that is affected by the surrounding aqueous environment, we tested these nanoparticle doped aqueous media formulations on hybridoma cell production.

Results

In this study, we tested the entire process of isolation and production of human monoclonal antibodies in NPD water as a means for further enhancing human monoclonal antibody isolation and production. Our results indicate an overall enhancement of hybridoma yield, viability, clonability and secretion. Furthermore, we have demonstrated that immortal cells proliferate faster whereas primary human fibroblasts proliferate slower in NPD water.

Conclusion

Overall, these studies indicate that NPD water can enhance cell proliferation, clonability and secretion. Furthermore, the results support the hypothesis that NPD water is effectively composed of stable microenvironments.

Generation of insulin-producing cells from human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells by genetic manipulation

Beta cell replacement is a promising approach for treatment of type 1 diabetes; however, it is limited by a shortage of pancreas donors. The pluripotent MSC in adult bone marrow (BM) offer an attractive source of stem cells for generation of surrogate beta cells. BM-MSC can be obtained with relative ease from each patient, allowing potential circumvention of allograft rejection. Here, we report a procedure for expansion of BM-MSC in vitro and their differentiation into insulin-producing cells. The pancreatic duodenal homeobox 1 (Pdx1) gene was expressed in BM-MSC from 14 human donors, and the extent of differentiation of these cells toward the beta-cell phenotype was evaluated. RNA and protein analyses documented the activation of expression of all four islet hormones. However, the cells lacked expression of NEUROD1, a key transcription factor in differentiated beta cells. A significant insulin content, as well as glucose-stimulated insulin release, were demonstrated in vitro. Cell transplantation into streptozotocin-diabetic immunodeficient mice resulted in further differentiation, including induction of NEUROD1, and reduction of hyperglycemia. These findings were reproducible in BM-MSC from 9 of 14 donors of both sexes, ages 19-62. These results suggest a therapeutic potential for PDX1-expressing BM-MSC in beta-cell replacement in patients with type 1 diabetes.

Reversal of hyperglycemia in mice by using human expandable insulin-producing cells differentiated from fetal liver progenitor cells

Beta-cell replacement is considered to be the most promising approach for treatment of type 1 diabetes. Its application on a large scale is hindered by a shortage of cells for transplantation. Activation of insulin expression, storage, and regulated secretion in stem/progenitor cells offers novel ways to overcome this shortage. We explored whether fetal human progenitor liver cells (FH) could be induced to differentiate into insulin-producing cells after expression of the pancreatic duodenal homeobox 1 (Pdx1) gene, which is a key regulator of pancreatic development and insulin expression in beta cells. FH cells possess a considerable replication capacity, and this was further extended by introduction of the gene for the catalytic subunit of human telomerase. Immortalized FH cells expressing Pdx1 activated multiple beta-cell genes, produced and stored considerable amounts of insulin, and released insulin in a regulated manner in response to glucose. When transplanted into hyperglycemic immunodeficient mice, the cells restored and maintained euglycemia for prolonged periods. Quantitation of human C-peptide in the mouse serum confirmed that the glycemia was normalized by the transplanted human cells. This approach offers the potential of a novel source of cells for transplantation into patients with type 1 diabetes.