ARW's CGT+RNA Manufacturing Must-Reads (COMPLAINTS EDITION!)
By Anna Rose Welch, Editorial & Community Director, Advancing RNA
Day-in and day-out, I write, read, listen to, and watch as much content as I can about CGT and RNA therapy manufacturing, in particular, and/or other ATMP industry-related topics that you should at least be aware of in the manufacturing facility. Every two weeks, I compile the articles and industry updates I think are most worthy of your time into an unconventional newsletter format (below) and send them out via email.
The last edition of must-reads was sent out on August 24, which is also known as weather complaint day. Though whining about the sun/summer weather is one of my favorite activities, when I first came across this “holiday,” I accidentally overlooked the weather part and was much more excited by the concept of a “National Complaint Day.” So, please, join me in a/my cathartic airing of grievances below, accompanied by your (much more productive) must-reads. Ugh.
Having dreams is exhausting.
[THE STATE OF mRNA]
- I am (mostly) kidding. But as much as I promise to be a foremost champion of the many dreams in the mRNA space, we also can’t forget the importance of practicality.
- In keeping with this odd (and oxymoronic) mix of idealistic realism, I wrote a piece outlining my three biggest “reality checks” from the 2024 mRNA Therapeutics Summit — because, as I argue in the article, we can’t and won’t always be Alice in mRNA Wonderland forever.
- If you’d also like another perspective and a few additional takeaways from the same event, I’d refer you to this pithy blog post, the personal approach/tone of which makes me think the author and I may be kindred spirits.
- Kyle, if you’re reading this, can we be friends?
Once again... please refer to email 475 of 513; we can’t be ANY clearer.
[REGULATORY]
- As you curse your way through your inbox to find your much-needed answer from the FDA, you may also want to remind yourself of the types of in-person meetings that are currently at your disposal.
- Luckily, there are two resources that can help you out with this:
- Several folks from the consulting firm Allucent are putting together a 5-part blog series outlining the meeting types and best practices for making the most of each type. We start here in part 1 with a primer on the meetings and their timelines and how to go about requesting a meeting.
- If you’re interested in a cell-therapy-specific regulatory approach, I’d encourage you to register for this upcoming ARM regulatory considerations webinar taking place on September 26 at 11 AM ET.
- Now before you complain about the lack of staffing at the FDA, I’d like to dampen your (albeit much deserved cynicism) with this article in which Peter Marks outlines the positive progress being made in reorganizing and staffing the OTP.
Why is having dreams so %$^#&*@ EXHAUSTING.
[GENE EDITING REGULATORY]
- This is why my go-to best practice is to just not have dreams.
- Continuing right along on that life affirming note... the regulatory landscape for gene editing remains quite young and has been overshadowed by some regulatory challenges — including the need to understand potential off-target effects (as revealed by Beam’s very brief regulatory update from exactly one year ago). However, this brief write-up about Intellia’s ongoing gene editing trial revealed the FDA’s interest in/request to also learn more about how the chemicals in LNPs may impact fetus development.
- Though there’s a lot to figure out yet, I thought this short article highlighting Peter Marks’ enthusiasm for gene editing — and particularly base editing — was a worthwhile read.
I can’t see clearly now — the rain’s not gone.
[ANALYTICAL DEVELOPMENT]
- Take that, Johnny Nash. (Also, may you continue to RIP...)
- If your products’ CQAs are still a brick wall holding you back from truly understanding your product, we can thank NIIMBL and BioPhorum for being the wrecking balls helping us let some light in. In particular:
- NIIMBL just announced an RFI for a next-gen sequencing (NGS) method development study to expand our analytical characterization/understanding of AAV and to improve cross-industry method consistency. The deadline for submitting an RFI is Sept. 5.
- Last month, the BioPhorum RNA group released a beautiful whitepaper defining (potential) CQAs/QAs for mRNA/LNP products, applicable methods, and whether these methods might be classified as stability, characterization, or release assays. [Free registration required to download]
Your product promised an otherworldly experience, but I am still stuck on the $%#& Earth.
[TOOLS & TECH]
- I, too, would like to speak to Gravity’s manager.
- But some folks are keeping life here on earth interesting, including the folks at DeciBio who published a useful graphic on LinkedIn breaking down the cell therapy tools space (i.e., consumables, instruments, and ecosystem players). This graphic is part of a forthcoming Cell Therapy Manufacturing Market Report 2023-2028. You can sign up via the LinkedIn post above to be notified of its publication.
- To drill down a bit farther into the cell therapy tools space, this article in Chemical Engineering Science characterizes mixing and fluid dynamics in an automated CAR-T cell therapy bioreactor to further improve mixing performance during cell expansion.
I’ve got 99 problems and potency is one.
[POTENCY ASSAYS]
- Might I offer you one — or a few — of my 99 bottles of beer to go with that problem?
- If you’re one of those rare entities for whom drinking isn’t the solution to your problems — but books are — well, aren’t you special. You can feast your eyes on this book chapter by several Roche/Genentech gene-iuses: “Phase-Appropriate Potency Assay Development for AAV-Based Gene Therapy Products,” which can be purchased & downloaded along with the book in which it appears: Bioprocess & Analytics Development for Virus-based ATMPs (Springer 2023).
- If mRNA is more your speed, I hope you enjoy (with or without libations) this article entitled, “The Development and Characterization of an In Vitro Cell-Based Assay to Predict Potency of mRNA-LNP-based Vaccines” which — bonus!— was authored by a rockstar panel of Merck, Spark Therapeutics, and Gilead folks.
My ice cream cone is melting #Pissed
[STABILITY/CRYOPRESERVATION]
- To keep our future patients from taking to social media with highly similar complaints about the stability profile of our viral vectors, please be sure to check out the following publications: