In August, Petr Machalik, M.S., joined Be The Match BioTherapies® to support the organization’s international expansion. We spoke to him about key challenges facing cell and gene therapy companies in the EU and how Be The Match BioTherapies is poised to support them. After spending a number of years as the lead apheresis network manager…
The approval of CAR-T therapies Kymriah® and Yescarta® in late 2017 represented an enormous milestone for patients with leukemia, lymphoma, and other blood cancers. However, the ongoing uncertainty over reimbursement has made it difficult for patients to access the CAR-T treatments. Despite the months passed since the therapies were FDA approved, only some patients that…
The field of cancer immunotherapies was buoyed last year by the FDA’s approval of the first autologous CAR-T drugs on the market, Novartis’ Kymriah and Gilead’s Yescarta. But, many drug makers are already looking in a new direction — off-the-shelf, or allogeneic, CAR-T therapies. In autologous therapies, like Kymriah and Yescarta, scientists isolate T cells from…
Last month, Jamie Margolis, PhD, who has been with Be The Match BioTherapies® since its inception, was promoted to Director of Product Development Operations. We spoke with her about key challenges the cell therapy industry is facing and how Be The Match BioTherapies is positioned, and growing, to help companies advance their cell or gene…
You’ve recently joined Be The Match BioTherapies full time after two years as a consultant. What is most exciting to you about your new position? We are on the cusp of a major sea change in the way we treat disease, and in the way new therapies are produced and distributed. I am thrilled to…
Earlier this month, Dr. Steven Devine, a renowned blood and marrow transplant physician, joined our organization as the Be The Match BioTherapies Medical Director. He came to the organization from the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC-James). We spoke with Dr. Devine…
As Be The Match BioTherapies enters its third year, could you share what you see as some of the organization’s biggest achievements? There are three major achievements that I’d like to highlight. First, we are proud to be partnering with some truly innovative companies in the cell therapy space to help bring life-saving therapies to…
Cell therapy companies large and small face challenges in securing the raw materials they need for their research and therapy production. That was the message delivered by industry veteran Amy Hines, director of Collection Network Management, Be The Match BioTherapies, at this year’s Cell & Gene Therapy World, hosted by Phacilitate last month in Miami.…
One of the biggest hurdles in commercializing cell therapies is not the regulatory process, nor is it marketing a brand new, first-in-class product. Instead, many feel that the biggest challenge facing companies developing cell and gene therapies is proving to be the manufacturing process. Manufacturing CAR-T therapies presents multiple unique challenges. First, developing a personalized…