Researchers from the Western Reserve University box have developed a device to harvest T cells that could considerably reduce the cost of making Car-T cell therapy and make this form of immunotherapy more accessible to cancer patients. The device was named Capglo for its “capture and glow” mechanism, where T cells are captured using a magnetic field and then viewed using fluorescent labels.
According to Robert Brown, PHD, a distinguished university professor in Case Western, technology has the potential to reduce the manufacturing costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars to a few hundred dollars to produce a single dose of CAR-T cell therapy.
The manufacture of CAR-T cell therapy requires extracting T cell cells from the patient, which are then designed to better find and fight cancer cells and return to the blood circulation. Conventionally, T cells are collected via the Leukaphérèse, an expensive procedure that involves deleting, treating and replacing a large amount of blood – typically From two to four times The total blood volume of the patient.
In comparison, CAPGLO would only require about half a pint of the patient’s blood, which is almost the same quantity which is generally collected in a blood donation. The objective of the research team is that the whole procedure takes place within the hour to avoid any damage to the collected cells.
Harvesting technology consists of coating magnetic balls with a protein designed to bind to T cells in a blood sample. Magnetized T cells can then be separated from other plasma cells and concentrated using a magnetic field and colorful with fluorescent microscopy. Once the T cells are isolated, the balls can be removed to obtain a ready sample for the transduction of the chimerical antigen.
Previous work led by David Wald, MD, PHD, professor of pathology at the Western Reserve’s School of Medicine case, have succeeded in the development of a CAR-T UltraFast Manufacturing Process This can reduce the time required to harvest and conceive of two weeks T of T of less than a day. To date, 14 patients have received CAR-T therapy manufactured using this process, 13 participants with a complete remission and overall fewer side effects. In addition to helping patients who cannot afford to wait for this potentially vital treatment, this technology has been reported to reduce the cost of manufacturing 95%CAR cells.
With Capglo, the costs could possibly be even lower, but more work is necessary to finish the development of the device and implement it in routine search and manufacturing sites. Researchers strive to make the device compact enough to be used in the laboratory bench, providing a portable and low cost solution for cellular capture and detection.
“I hope that we could lower the cost of immunotherapy so that it can be first-line treatment rather than a terminal treatment,” said Susann Brady-Kalnay, PHD, research teacher on brain tumors at Case Western and member of the Cancer Center Center. “For some people, it is curative therapy. For others, it offers significant advantages of survival. We have to make it more accessible to everyone. ”