Lab technicians work in the ISO-7-classified clean room of the new Advanced Cellular Therapeutics Facility. PHOTO CREDIT: JOHN ZICH
of the complete responders. The first patient, treated in May 2016, has been back at work for two and a half years. “This trial demonstrates that CAR T-cell therapy can provide a high rate of durable responses,” says study co-author Michael R. Bishop, MD, who directs the Cellular Therapy Program at UChicago Medicine. “Our current results are a promising sign of the potential for long-term benefit.”
only provides increased capacity for manufacturing cells for existing therapies, but also adds new capabilities for processing and manufacturing new types of cellular therapy products for treating blood cancers and benign conditions such as sickle cell disease. The new facility will support the Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Program in the hospital by processing and manufacturing all blood-based cells for stem cell/bone marrow transplantation for adult and pediatric patients.
NEW FACILITY BRINGS THE MOST ADVANCED CELLULAR THERAPIES TO PATIENTS
In addition, the new facility will have the capabilities for manufacturing novel cell therapies such as CAR T cells.
Stem cell transplant (also known as bone marrow transplant) is an established cellular therapy for many cancers, but mostly for blood diseases once considered incurable. For some types of blood cancers such as leukemia and myeloma, stem cell transplant is the standard of care; for others, it’s only considered if other treatments have been unsuccessful.
The new, 10,000-square-foot facility houses work spaces for manufacturing cells under Good Tissue Practices guidelines (GTP), as well as clean rooms that are compatible with current Good Manufacturing Guidelines (cGMP). Besides these clinical manufacturing spaces, the facility also houses space for quality testing and for developing and scaling up new cellular therapies from investigator-initiated and pharmaceutical company-sponsored clinical trials.
Today, ongoing advances in stem cell transplant continue to expand its availability and improve outcomes for patients, both young and old. This year, UChicago Medicine replaced the existing 17-year-old stem cell transplant facility and opened a brand-new, state-of-the-art facility to process and manufacture cells for therapeutic purposes. The new facility, named the Advanced Cellular Therapeutics Facility (ACTF), not
The University of Chicago Medicine was named a Blue Distinction Center for Cellular Immunotherapy by Blue Cross Blue Shield. This highly respected designation acknowledges the expertise providers have demonstrated and their commitment to improving quality and affordability.
The ACTF is registered with the FDA. Currently, the Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Program performs over 200 adult and pediatric stem cell transplants a year in addition to a large number of clinical trials, and has commercial cell therapy contracts with pharmaceutical/ biotechnology companies.
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