Azenta Life Sciences, a leading provider of life sciences solutions worldwide, hosted the Cryogenic Considerations for Cell and Gene Therapy Symposium in Boston, MA October 17-19^th. The symposium brought together over 100 participants across over 60 organizations including top cryobiology experts to discuss the nuances of cryogenic supply chain, transient warming, and thawing of advanced therapies—from collection of raw materials to manufacturing and distribution of cell and gene therapies.

The symposium kicked off with an introduction from Azenta's business development leader for Cell and Gene Therapy and past ISBER President, David Lewandowski, and a keynote presentation by Richard McFarland, Ph.D., MD, Chief Regulatory Officer at Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute (ARMI), BioFabUSA and current President of the Standard Coordinating Body for Gene, Cell, and Regenerative Medicines and Cell-Based Drug Discovery. The talk focused on overcoming the "valley of death" between cell and gene therapy discoveries and clinical translation.

Topics covered during the full day of the symposium included presentations from thought-leading cryobiologists on the fundamentals of cryopreservation and other related topics such as cell viability, packaging, documentation, and the opportunities for further standards. The symposium also addressed the challenges and considerations of thawing cell therapy drug products, which is as critical to the process as cryopreservation for advanced therapies.

"This symposium is a much needed one to bring together companies and organizations to discuss cell therapy cryopreservation standards and best practices," said Katie Pollock, Ph.D, Associate Director, Head of Formulation and Cryobiology, Bristol Myers Squibb. "It was a pleasure to present at the event and I'm hopeful that cryogenic standards conversations will continue to receive additional input and attention."

The Azenta Innovation Award was presented to Albert Ribickas, the Blood and Marrow Transplant Laboratory Manager and the Manager of the Patient Product Handling Team for Clinical Trials and Commercial Cellular Therapies at the Moffitt Cancer Center.

"Al has made significant contributions to the field of advanced therapies, helping lead the bone marrow transplant and cell therapy lab at Moffitt Cancer Center for over 35 years. He is selfless in his commitment to help the industry understand the clinic perspective when designing useful delivery systems for advanced therapy." said David Lewandowski, Director, Business Development for Cell and Gene Therapy at Azenta.

The symposium ended with a discussion on existing standards in cryopreservation and a conversation on which gaps remain.

"As a leader in automated cryogenic storage and cold chain solutions, our goal for this symposium was to educate and learn and to bring the industry together." said Steve Schwartz, President, and CEO of Azenta. "We intend to make this an annual event so we can work together across the industry to solve problems and bring lifesaving therapies to market faster."

For more information on Azenta's 2022 Cryo for Cell and Gene Therapy Symposium, visit our website.

About Azenta Life Sciences

Azenta, Inc. is a leading provider of life sciences solutions worldwide, enabling impactful breakthroughs and therapies to market faster. Azenta provides a full suite of reliable cold-chain sample management solutions and genomic services across areas such as drug development, clinical research and advanced cell therapies for the industry's top pharmaceutical, biotech, academic and healthcare institutions globally. Azenta is headquartered in Chelmsford, MA, with operations in North America, Europe and Asia. For more information, please visit www.azenta.com.

Image: David Lewandowski, Director, Business Development for Cell and Gene Therapy at Azenta speaks at the symposium. Credit: Azenta

Source: Azenta, Inc.