Classifications

• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
  • C12N—MICROORGANISMS OR ENZYMES; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF; PROPAGATING, PRESERVING, OR MAINTAINING MICROORGANISMS; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING; CULTURE MEDIA
  • C12N5/00—Undifferentiated human, animal or plant cells, e.g. cell lines; Tissues; Cultivation or maintenance thereof; Culture media therefor
  • C12N5/06—Animal cells or tissues; Human cells or tissues
  • C12N5/0602—Vertebrate cells
  • C12N5/0634—Cells from the blood or the immune system
  • C12N5/0636—T lymphocytes
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C07—ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
  • C07K—PEPTIDES
  • C07K14/00—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof
  • C07K14/435—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof from animals; from humans
  • C07K14/705—Receptors; Cell surface antigens; Cell surface determinants
  • C07K14/70503—Immunoglobulin superfamily
  • C07K14/7051—T-cell receptor (TcR)-CD3 complex
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
  • C12N—MICROORGANISMS OR ENZYMES; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF; PROPAGATING, PRESERVING, OR MAINTAINING MICROORGANISMS; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING; CULTURE MEDIA
  • C12N15/00—Mutation or genetic engineering; DNA or RNA concerning genetic engineering, vectors, e.g. plasmids, or their isolation, preparation or purification; Use of hosts therefor
  • C12N15/09—Recombinant DNA-technology
  • C12N15/63—Introduction of foreign genetic material using vectors; Vectors; Use of hosts therefor; Regulation of expression
  • C12N15/79—Vectors or expression systems specially adapted for eukaryotic hosts
  • C12N15/85—Vectors or expression systems specially adapted for eukaryotic hosts for animal cells
  • C12N15/86—Viral vectors
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
  • C12N—MICROORGANISMS OR ENZYMES; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF; PROPAGATING, PRESERVING, OR MAINTAINING MICROORGANISMS; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING; CULTURE MEDIA
  • C12N5/00—Undifferentiated human, animal or plant cells, e.g. cell lines; Tissues; Cultivation or maintenance thereof; Culture media therefor
  • C12N5/0018—Culture media for cell or tissue culture
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
  • C12N—MICROORGANISMS OR ENZYMES; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF; PROPAGATING, PRESERVING, OR MAINTAINING MICROORGANISMS; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING; CULTURE MEDIA
  • C12N2501/00—Active agents used in cell culture processes, e.g. differentation
  • C12N2501/20—Cytokines; Chemokines
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
  • C12N—MICROORGANISMS OR ENZYMES; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF; PROPAGATING, PRESERVING, OR MAINTAINING MICROORGANISMS; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING; CULTURE MEDIA
  • C12N2501/00—Active agents used in cell culture processes, e.g. differentation
  • C12N2501/20—Cytokines; Chemokines
  • C12N2501/23—Interleukins [IL]
  • C12N2501/2302—Interleukin-2 (IL-2)
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
  • C12N—MICROORGANISMS OR ENZYMES; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF; PROPAGATING, PRESERVING, OR MAINTAINING MICROORGANISMS; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING; CULTURE MEDIA
  • C12N2501/00—Active agents used in cell culture processes, e.g. differentation
  • C12N2501/20—Cytokines; Chemokines
  • C12N2501/23—Interleukins [IL]
  • C12N2501/2307—Interleukin-7 (IL-7)
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
  • C12N—MICROORGANISMS OR ENZYMES; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF; PROPAGATING, PRESERVING, OR MAINTAINING MICROORGANISMS; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING; CULTURE MEDIA
  • C12N2501/00—Active agents used in cell culture processes, e.g. differentation
  • C12N2501/20—Cytokines; Chemokines
  • C12N2501/23—Interleukins [IL]
  • C12N2501/2312—Interleukin-12 (IL-12)
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
  • C12N—MICROORGANISMS OR ENZYMES; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF; PROPAGATING, PRESERVING, OR MAINTAINING MICROORGANISMS; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING; CULTURE MEDIA
  • C12N2501/00—Active agents used in cell culture processes, e.g. differentation
  • C12N2501/20—Cytokines; Chemokines
  • C12N2501/23—Interleukins [IL]
  • C12N2501/2315—Interleukin-15 (IL-15)
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
  • C12N—MICROORGANISMS OR ENZYMES; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF; PROPAGATING, PRESERVING, OR MAINTAINING MICROORGANISMS; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING; CULTURE MEDIA
  • C12N2501/00—Active agents used in cell culture processes, e.g. differentation
  • C12N2501/20—Cytokines; Chemokines
  • C12N2501/23—Interleukins [IL]
  • C12N2501/2318—Interleukin-18 (IL-18)
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
  • C12N—MICROORGANISMS OR ENZYMES; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF; PROPAGATING, PRESERVING, OR MAINTAINING MICROORGANISMS; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING; CULTURE MEDIA
  • C12N2501/00—Active agents used in cell culture processes, e.g. differentation
  • C12N2501/20—Cytokines; Chemokines
  • C12N2501/23—Interleukins [IL]
  • C12N2501/2321—Interleukin-21 (IL-21)
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
  • C12N—MICROORGANISMS OR ENZYMES; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF; PROPAGATING, PRESERVING, OR MAINTAINING MICROORGANISMS; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING; CULTURE MEDIA
  • C12N2501/00—Active agents used in cell culture processes, e.g. differentation
  • C12N2501/50—Cell markers; Cell surface determinants
  • C12N2501/51—B7 molecules, e.g. CD80, CD86, CD28 (ligand), CD152 (ligand)
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
  • C12N—MICROORGANISMS OR ENZYMES; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF; PROPAGATING, PRESERVING, OR MAINTAINING MICROORGANISMS; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING; CULTURE MEDIA
  • C12N2501/00—Active agents used in cell culture processes, e.g. differentation
  • C12N2501/50—Cell markers; Cell surface determinants
  • C12N2501/515—CD3, T-cell receptor complex
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
  • C12N—MICROORGANISMS OR ENZYMES; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF; PROPAGATING, PRESERVING, OR MAINTAINING MICROORGANISMS; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING; CULTURE MEDIA
  • C12N2510/00—Genetically modified cells
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
  • C12N—MICROORGANISMS OR ENZYMES; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF; PROPAGATING, PRESERVING, OR MAINTAINING MICROORGANISMS; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING; CULTURE MEDIA
  • C12N2740/00—Reverse transcribing RNA viruses
  • C12N2740/00011—Details
  • C12N2740/10011—Retroviridae
  • C12N2740/10041—Use of virus, viral particle or viral elements as a vector
  • C12N2740/10043—Use of virus, viral particle or viral elements as a vector viral genome or elements thereof as genetic vector
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
  • C12N—MICROORGANISMS OR ENZYMES; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF; PROPAGATING, PRESERVING, OR MAINTAINING MICROORGANISMS; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING; CULTURE MEDIA
  • C12N2740/00—Reverse transcribing RNA viruses
  • C12N2740/00011—Details
  • C12N2740/10011—Retroviridae
  • C12N2740/15011—Lentivirus, not HIV, e.g. FIV, SIV
  • C12N2740/15041—Use of virus, viral particle or viral elements as a vector
  • C12N2740/15043—Use of virus, viral particle or viral elements as a vector viral genome or elements thereof as genetic vector
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
  • C12N—MICROORGANISMS OR ENZYMES; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF; PROPAGATING, PRESERVING, OR MAINTAINING MICROORGANISMS; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING; CULTURE MEDIA
  • C12N2740/00—Reverse transcribing RNA viruses
  • C12N2740/00011—Details
  • C12N2740/10011—Retroviridae
  • C12N2740/16011—Human Immunodeficiency Virus, HIV
  • C12N2740/16041—Use of virus, viral particle or viral elements as a vector
  • C12N2740/16043—Use of virus, viral particle or viral elements as a vector viral genome or elements thereof as genetic vector
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
  • C12N—MICROORGANISMS OR ENZYMES; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF; PROPAGATING, PRESERVING, OR MAINTAINING MICROORGANISMS; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING; CULTURE MEDIA
  • C12N2750/00—MICROORGANISMS OR ENZYMES; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF; PROPAGATING, PRESERVING, OR MAINTAINING MICROORGANISMS; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING; CULTURE MEDIA ssDNA viruses
  • C12N2750/00011—Details
  • C12N2750/14011—Parvoviridae
  • C12N2750/14111—Dependovirus, e.g. adenoassociated viruses
  • C12N2750/14141—Use of virus, viral particle or viral elements as a vector
  • C12N2750/14143—Use of virus, viral particle or viral elements as a vector viral genome or elements thereof as genetic vector

Definitions

• the disclosure relates to a rapid T cell manufacturing workflow that enables the production of genetically manipulated T cell products in less than 1 day using viral mediated transduction and also provides innovation in product release testing to facilitate roadblocks in utilization of this product clinically.
• T cell therapy has shown enormous potential in the treatment of diseases, particularly cancer, infectious diseases and autoimmune diseases.
• One method to enhance T cell therapy is to genetically modify T cells using viral mediated gene transfer to enhance their activity and/or specificity to the desired target cells.
• CARs chimeric antigen receptors
• the expression of chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) on T cells using lentivirus and retrovirus has shown enormous potential in cancer therapy.
• Autologous T cells that express a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR-T cells) particularly directed against CD 19 have exhibited significant efficacy in patients with relapsed or refractory B cell malignancies.
• CAR-T therapies Another challenge with current CAR-T therapies are that they lead to poor efficacy for most malignancies outside of B cell malignancies such as NHL, acute lymphoid leukemia and multiple myeloma. In addition, even for diseases such as NHL where there are promising initial results, many patients (-50%) will not have durable remissions after 1 year (6, 7).
• one challenge is the poor persistence of the infused CAR-T cells in patients. It has been reported that the persistence of the CAR-T cells is correlated to the differentiation status of the manufactured CAR-T product. In particular, more differentiated products are thought to have reduced in vivo persistence as compared to products with more immature/naive cells (reviewed in (8)).
• T cell isolation typically involves T cell isolation, T cell activation, T cell transduction (often combined with strategies to enhance transduction efficiency such as spin inoculation, retronectin, polybrene, etc).
• T cell stimulation to enable efficient transduction typically involves stimulation with CD3 or CD3/CD28 antibodies and cytokine stimulation (ex. IL-2, IL-7, IL-21 and/or IL- 15).
• CD3 or CD3/CD28 antibodies typically involves CD3 or CD3/CD28 antibodies and cytokine stimulation (ex. IL-2, IL-7, IL-21 and/or IL- 15).
• cytokine stimulation ex. IL-2, IL-7, IL-21 and/or IL- 15
• the process is time and labor intensive.
• T cells typically isolated using magnetic beads which involves a long and expensive process.
• the beads typically also require removal which adds yet another step requiring time, specialized equipment and expertise for the manufacturing.
• the complex manufacturing also almost always requires the use of a specialized clean room facility to ensure the sterility of
• T cells In order for T cells to be efficiently transduced with virus (ex. lentivirus or retrovirus), it has been previously reported and almost universally practiced in the field that the T cells need to be first activated (ex. with CD3 or CD3/CD28 stimulation) in the presence of cytokines (ex. IL- 2, IL-7 and/or IL- 15) for a period of 1-3 days prior to viral transduction. Therefore, traditional manufacturing involves an initial activation step with CD3 and/or CD3/CD28 followed by 1-3 days before the transduction can efficiently be performed. It is widely practiced for the T cells to be expanded for 1-2 weeks after activation. After viral transduction, traditional manufacturing utilizes a T cell expansion phase partially to generate sufficient T cells for patient infusion.
• virus ex. lentivirus or retrovirus
• T cells are isolated at the initial manufacturing stages (ie. prior to viral transduction).
• a T cell isolation steps are part of all the previously reported rapid genetically engineered T cell manufacturing workflows (1 day or less) that involve viral based genetic engineering.
• T cells are purified using magnetic beads (typically either CD3/CD28 Dynabeads® (ThermoFisher Scientific, Waltham, MA) or CD4/CD8 magnetic beads (Miltenyi Biotec, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany)).
• Miltenyi Biotec reports their magnetic beads do not release for 2-3 days from bound cells. In fact it has been reported that the Miltenyi Biotec beads instead of actually releasing may get internalized after several days and therefore, they can have unknown impact on the T cell product (thermofisher.com/us/en/home/life-science/cell-analysis/cell-isolation-and- expansion/cell-isolation/see-how-miltenyi-microbeads-interact-wi th-your-t-cells.html).
• a simple and rapid manufacturing workflow is desirable.
• a 1 day or less workflow is particularly advantageous as reductions in culture duration would significantly increase the naive T cell population as well as eventually enable simple, closed system manufacturing outside of a clean room facility.
• a process that does not require isolation of T cells would be advantageous for numerous reasons including to increase the simplicity of the process requiring less costs and expertise and decrease the hands on requirements leading to increased scalability.
• the product could contain additional cell types such as NK cells that also have known favorable therapeutic properties such as the ability to lyse tumor or pathogen infected cells.
• NK cells also have known favorable therapeutic properties such as the ability to lyse tumor or pathogen infected cells.
• our studies have also revealed additional benefits of utilizing a mixed population of mononuclear cells (ex. PBMCs or monocyte depleted PBMCs) as opposed to isolated T cells for rapid CAR-T manufacturing.
• the isolated T cells show a decrease in the highly desirable naive T cell population in the manufactured product as compared to the same manufacturing process performed using PBMCs without a T cell isolation step.
• Prior art clinical rapid CAR-T manufacturing workflows have been reported using viral gene delivery.
• the manufacturing methods utilize T cell isolation steps which adds an additional layer of unnecessary cost, complexity and can impair the ability to efficiently manufacture cells in the shortest possible time due to inability to remove magnetic beads from cells without significant cell loss.
• a ⁇ 2 day manufacturing protocol was reported that involves ⁇ 24hr ex vivo culture (ashpublications.org/blood/article/138/Supplement%201/2848/481328/ Preservation-of-T-Cell-Stemness-with-a-Novel). This process is reported to involve a T cell isolation step.
• a method for rapid manufacture of a genetically modified T-cell population comprising steps of obtaining a mixed mononuclear cell population and, substantially simultaneously, activating a T-cell population comprised in the mixed mononuclear cell population and exposing the mixed mononuclear cell population to a viral vector adapted to transduce at least the T-cell population comprised in the mixed mononuclear cell population with a foreign nucleotide. There is no step of T-cell isolation required.
• the method includes harvesting the mixed mononuclear cell population comprising at least a genetically modified T-cell population at up to 24 hours from the steps of simultaneously activating and exposing to at least one viral vector.
• the step of activating is performed by exposing the mixed mononuclear cells to an activation agent selected from one or more of the group of cytokines consisting of IL-2, IL-7, IL- 15, and IL21, and/or to an activation agent selected from activators for one or more of CD3, CD28, 0X40, CD2, CD27, ICAM-1, LFA-1 (CD1 la/CD18), ICOS (CD278), and 4-1BB (CD137).
• the activating is performed by exposing the mixed mononuclear cells to an activation agent selected from one or more of the group consisting of IL- 7 and IL-15.
• the method includes a step of at least partial depletion by adherence of a monocyte population comprised in the mononuclear cell population prior to the steps of activating and exposing to the viral vector.
• the steps of activating and exposing to the viral vector are preferably performed in the absence of any exogenous cytokine.
• the step of activating may be performed by exposing the mixed mononuclear cell population to one or more of a CD3 activator, a CD28 activator, soluble or surface-bound CD3 antibody, or soluble or surface-bound CD28 antibody.
• the mixed mononuclear cell population comprising the genetically modified T-cell population.
• the mixed mononuclear cell population may be obtained by apheresis or a peripheral blood draw.
• the viral transduction vector is selected from the group consisting of a lentivirus, a retrovirus, and an adenovirus.
• a step of differential centrifugation is provided following the step of substantially simultaneously activating and exposing to the viral transduction vector to remove a plasmid DNA from genomic DNA by DNA size selection.
• the present disclosure provides a genetically modified T-cell, produced by the above method.
• the present disclosure provides a closed system kit for performing the method for rapid manufacture of a genetically modified T-cell population according to the above method.
• the closed system kit may include a first sterile vessel adapted for receiving a mixed mononuclear cell population, a second sterile vessel adapted for receiving a mixed mononuclear cell population depleted of monocytes, a bead -free T-cell activation agent, a viral vector adapted to transduce a T-cell population with a foreign nucleotide, a suitable culture media, and a suitable cell washing solution.
• at least the first vessel is fabricated of a material suitable for depletion of monocytes from the mixed mononuclear cell population.
• the first and second vessels may be adapted for sterile introduction of the bead-free T-cell activation agent, the viral transduction vector, the culture media, and the cell washing solution.
• the various elements/reagents of the closed system kit are otherwise substantially as described above.
• One or both of the first and the second vessel may be selected from the group consisting of a cell culture bag and a cell culture flask.
• Figure 1 A shows a comparison of transduction efficiencies using a 20hr simultaneous transduction/activation process and GFP lentiviral vector using different T cell activation reagents on monocyte depleted PBMCs. After 20hr, the cells were washed to remove free virus/ activation reagent and the Cloudz® reagent was removed with dissolution buffer. GFP expression was determined by flow cytometry 3 days after transduction/activation. The workflow utilized is described in the section entitled Detailed example of rapid manufacturing workflow. Panel A depicts the use of 3 commercial reagents that all involve CD3 and CD28 antibodies conjugated to a matrix or beads.
• Figure IB shows T cell manufacturing performed as in Figure 1 A with the exception of use of soluble CD3 (100 ng/ml OKT3) or a combination of soluble CD3 (100 ng/ml) and CD28(300 ng/ml) antibodies as the activation reagent. Further, the manufacturing was performed in the absence or presence of IL-7 and IL-15.
• Figure 1C shows T cell manufacturing performed as described in Figure IB with the exception of use of Immunocult® at the manufacturers recommended concentration, included as a T cell activation reagent and cytokine was used for all samples (IL-7 and IL- 15).
• Figure ID shows T cell manufacturing performed using the workflow described in Figure 1 A with the exception that T cell activation was performed using soluble CD3 (100 ng/ml OKT3), surface bound CD3 (surface coated with 5 pg/ml OKT3) or TransAct® (at the manufacturers recommended concentration).
• CD69 expression was measured by flow cytometry at product harvest (20 hour culture).
• FIG. 2 illustrates simultaneous vs sequential T cell activation: CD 19 CAR expression was assessed using an anti-FMC63 antibody (AcroBiosytems, Newark, Delaware) by flow cytometry. The cells were examined for CAR expression 4 days after transduction. PBMCs were plated and activated with the Cloudz® T cell activation reagent at either the same time as lentiviral vector addition or 24 hours prior to virus addition.
• FIG. 3 shows a comparison of various cytokines on modulating the transduction efficiency using the rapid manufacturing workflow.
• Monocyte depleted PBMCs were transduced with CD 19 CAR lentiviral vector using the process described in the section Detailed example of rapid manufacturing workflow using the indicated cytokines and assessed for CD 19 CAR expression after 72 hours by flow cytometry using an FMC63 specific antibody (Acrobiosystems).
• Figure 4 presents an assessment of different culture durations using the rapid manufacturing workflow.
• Monocyte depleted PBMCs were activated and transduced with CD 19 CAR vector as described in the section Detailed example of rapid manufacturing workflow.
• the cells were washed to remove free virus and the CloudZ® T cell activation reagent was removed at 6 or 17 hours after initiation of the process.
• the cells were then maintained in culture for 72 hours in order to assess CD 19 CAR surface expression by flow cytometry.
• Figure 5 shows that UF-KURE19 cells demonstrated increased in vivo efficacy over similar CAR-T cells manufactured for 6 days.
• Figure 6 shows that exogenous cytokine is not needed for an effective rapid T cell manufacturing workflow.
• NSG mice were injected with Raji-luciferase cells and the indicated CD 19 CAR-T products or vehicle were injected after 7 days followed by bioluminescence imaging on the indicated dates.
• Figure 7A shows testing of qPCR release testing with low fragment removal.
• the data depict the results of TaqMan based qPCR testing of VSVG (replication competent lentivirus) on DNA samples prepared from CD 19 CAR-T transduced cells using the rapid manufacturing workflow and harvested after 20 hours. DNA preparation was performed using the protocol described above (using the PacBio reagent) for low fragment removal. The PCR testing was performed on samples with and without low fragment removal.
• Figure 7B shows data depicting the vector copy number per transduced cell results for T cells transduced with CD 19 CAR lentiviral vector and cultured for 8 days at various MOI’s.
• the CD 19 CAR expression was determined by flow cytometry using a CD 19 CAR specific antibody (AcroBiosystems) and the copy number was determined by qPCR for GAG and PTPB2. .
• Figure 7C shows data depicting the vector copy number per transduced cell and CD 19 CAR surface expression for T cells manufactured using the rapid manufacturing workflow using an MOI of 10: 1 for the vector described in Figure 7B.
• the vector copy number per transduced cells was determined by qPCR and flow cytometry as described in Figure 7B.
• the low fragment size DNA was removed prior to PCR using the SRE kit (PacBio).
• Figure 7D shows the results of DNA gel electrophoresis demonstrating that the low fragment removal does not significantly impact the amount or size distribution of the genomic DNA.
• Genomic DNA from two different T cell samples that were lentivirally transduced with CD 19 CAR vector and harvested after 20 hours were prepared using the DNeasy Blood and Tissue Kit. Agarose gel electrophoresis was either performed directly on the genomic DNA samples or was performed after performing low input depletion using the PacBio lOkb SRE Kit.
• Lane 1 DNA marker
• Lane 2 Sample 1 Total Genomic DNA
• Lane 3 Total Genomic DNA after SRE kit processing
• Lane 4 Sample 2 Total Genomic DNA
• Lane 5 Sample 2 Total Genomic DNA after SRE kit processing.
• this process can also be conducted in the absence of any cytokines (Ex. IL-2, IL-7 and/or IL- 15) or in the presence of cytokines.
• cytokines Ex. IL-2, IL-7 and/or IL- 15
• the T cell transduction efficiency using this method was found to be as high as the transduction efficiency utilizing the more traditional T cell activation followed by viral transduction 1-3 days after activation.
• PBMCs as a starting source as opposed to isolated T cells is that ability to utilize a CD3 activation alone without the requirement of CD28 co-stimulation due to the presence of other mononuclear cells that provide stimulatory signals.
• T cell activation when T cell activation is performed, that CD3 stimulation alone without the necessity of using CD3/CD28 activation reagents, there is more preservation of desirable central memory T cells (9). Therefore, the developed T cell manufacturing workflow involves a highly simplified process that can significantly reduce costs and improve efficiency as compared to previously reported methods.
• the manufacturing can occur with or without the requirement for a T cell pre-isolation step.
• the manufacturing workflow can be performed more rapidly and for a reduced cost and surprisingly also yields a product with a higher percentage of desirable naive T cells.
• the T cells can be enriched through monocyte depletion by simple adherence to a solid surface (ex. tissue culture flask/plate or bag). The monocyte depletion can be performed on an adherent surface such as on a plate or bag and can also be performed in a closed system.
• the final product can include not only genetically engineered T cells but also other cell types such as NK cells that may exhibit beneficial therapeutic properties.
• T cells are simultaneously activated using in one aspect a bead-free activation reagent and transduced in the presence of low concentrations of IL- 7 and IL-15 (ex. 5-10 ng/ml or lower) importantly in the absence of IL-2.
• IL-2 is a cytokine that is known to drive T cell differentiation and cells cultured in the presence of IL-2 are known to show reduced preservation of their naive/undifferentiated phenotype. This is particularly true when high doses (ex. 300IU/ml) are utilized (11-12).
• the workflow involving the simultaneous activation and transduction of T cells is highly efficient in the complete absence of exogenous cytokine addition including IL-2, IL-7 or IL-15. Therefore, the manufacturing workflow can be performed with the addition of any exogenous cytokine.
• the genetically modified T cell product can be manufactured in less than 24 hours, preferably including a culture time of approximately 17-20 hours.
• the cell activation can occur using various reagents that activate T cells through CD3 or CD3 and CD28 including Transact (MiltenyiBiotec), Cloudz T cell activator (Biotechne), soluble or surface bound CD3 and/or CD28 antibodies or custom microbubbles with conjugated CD3 and/or CD3/CD28 antibodies.
• Transact MiltenyiBiotec
• Cloudz T cell activator Biotechne
• soluble or surface bound CD3 and/or CD28 antibodies or custom microbubbles with conjugated CD3 and/or CD3/CD28 antibodies.
• the Cloudz T cell activator is found to enable a high and unexpected ability to simultaneously activate and virally transduce T cells as compared to Transact.
• soluble or surface bound CD3 with or without CD28 also functions will in the less than 1 day workflow described here.
• the cell activation can also occur using reagents that activate T cells through CD3 and other co-stimulatory molecules besides CD28 (or in addition to CD28) such as 0X40, CD2, CD27, ICAM-1, LFA-l(CDl la/CD18), ICOS (CD278) and 4-1 BB (CD137).
• CD28 co-stimulatory molecules besides CD28
• reagents that activate T cells through CD3 and other co-stimulatory molecules besides CD28 such as 0X40, CD2, CD27, ICAM-1, LFA-l(CDl la/CD18), ICOS (CD278) and 4-1 BB (CD137).
• the cells After activation and transduction of the cells, the cells can be harvested in less than one day after transduction (ex. ⁇ 17-20hr) and can be used directly for therapeutic purposes or cryopreserved for later use. This method of manufacturing leads to T cells that exhibit high therapeutic efficacy despite the fact that the expression of the gene transduced into the T cells is not fully expressed when the cells are harvested as well as infused to the recipient.
• this method enables a rapid manufacturing protocol for cell therapy products that can be performed in less than 1 day.
• the T cell manufacturing process can be performed in a fully closed system using a manual or automated process.
• the manufacturing can be performed in a fully closed system outside of a clean room allowing manufacturing at many centers without specialized clean room infrastructure.
• Another component of this approach is a method to eliminate false positive reactivity for required release testing of virally transduced cell therapy products that occurs with rapid manufacturing.
• Residual plasmid DNA from cell transfection (Ex. 293 or 293T cells) to produce lentivirus or retrovirus is present in cell therapy products during the first several days of manufacturing.
• This plasmid DNA gives false positive results for vector copy number and replication competent virus testing qPCR assays.
• release testing is integrated into the workflow and involves a size separation step based on differential centrifugation to eliminate this plasmid DNA and enable the clinical use of the rapidly manufactured T cell products that is often required for product release.
• the depletion method described below leads to an approximately 50% reduction in monocytes from the starting blood product starting at 2 hours after plating as seen in figure 1. Additional duration of incubation after 2 hours did not significantly impact the depletion using this approach.
• the cell density at which cells where plated (5xl0 6 cells/ml and 2xl0 6 cells/ml) demonstrate equivalent results.
• the depletion shows similar results utilizing tissue culture plates or flasks or in a closed system using bags such as the VueLife® "AC" Series bags manufactured by Saint Gobain (Paris, France).
• Mononuclear cells from a peripheral blood apheresis sample were incubated in a 6 well tissue culture plate in a tissue culture incubator at 37 degrees Celsius for the indicated timepoints.
• the percent monocytes was determined in the non-adhered cells at the following timepoints using a hematology analyzer (Hemavet®, Drew Scientific, Miami Lakes, Florida).
• the starting population consisted of a starting monocyte percentage of 25.02%.
• MO% monocyte percentage.
• T cells can be isolated directly from whole blood, an apheresis sample or another source of T cells.
• the T cells can be isolated using any available method. For example a magnetic bead approach such as CD3, CD4 or CD8 magnetic beads (ex. Miltenyi Biotec microbeads or ThermoFisher Scientific dynabeads®) can be used.
• the T cells can also be efficiently and rapidly isolated using CD3 microbubbles, CD3/CD28, or microbubbles conjugated with CD3 and any other T cell co-stimulatory ligand.
• microbubbles, particularly lipid microbubbles provide a rapid and efficient method of isolation and simultaneously also provides an activation signal.
• the activation of the T cells can be accomplished through multiple approaches. If PBMCs or monocyte PBMCs are utilized, a soluble activation reagent or surface bound (ex. plate/bag) is preferred for the rapid manufacturing workflow over magnetic bead based approaches.
• a soluble activation reagent or surface bound is preferred for the rapid manufacturing workflow over magnetic bead based approaches.
• One effective activation approach is to use CD3/CD28 dissolvable microspheres (Cloudz® Human T cell activation reagent from Biotechne/R&D Systems (Minneapolis, Minnesota). This reagent consists of an alginate copolymer that is dissolvable within minutes and therefore does not require magnetic beads and it does not lead to contamination of the product.
• Alternative activation reagents can also be utilized such as Immunocult® CD3/CD28 Activator (Stem Cell Technologies, Vancouver Canada).
• Alternative activation agents that can be utilized include CD3 or CD3/CD28 magnetic beads (ex. Dynabeads® ThermoFisher Scientific) or TransAct® (Miltenyi Biotec).
• the magnetic beads based and TransAct® agents are not considered as optimal as the magnetic beads require increased labor and a removal step that is challenging due to tightly bound beads at early timepoints. This may lead to excessive loss of cells.
• the TransAct® activation reagent is also reported to be a “gentler and slower” activation reagent as compared to the other products which leads to an optimal window of viral transduction at later timepoints. TransAct® has been reported to require 1-2 days for T cell activation prior to viral transduction in order to enable optimal viral transduction.
• TransAct® is not the preferred activation reagent for a manufacturing protocol that involves simultaneous activation/transduction and harvest of the product in less than one day.
• soluble or surface coated CD3 antibody (ex. OKT3 antibody or other CD3 antibodies) either alone or in combination with soluble CD28 antibody or other T cell co-stimulatory stimuli is another effective activation strategy that is fully compatible with the described rapid manufacturing workflow.
• this approach benefits from the PBMC based approach which enables activation of the T cells without the need for exogenous CD28 or other agents for co-stimulation.
• this method of using CD3 antibody leads to significantly reduced costs as compared to other activation stimuli and minimizes risks present with scaffolds (ex. alginate, magnetic beads etc) present in the manufactured product that can have unknown side effects in patients.
• T cell activation reagents have been found to function more efficiently using the less than 1 day rapid manufacturing workflow described here.
• monocyte depleted PBMC 200,000 cells in lOOpl
• CTS® immune cell serum replacement ThermoFisher Scientific
• TexMACs® TexMACs® (Miltenyi Biotec) media containing IL-7 (10 ng/ml) and IL- 15 (5 ng/ml).
• GFP lentiviral vector and the indicated activation reagent were added and the cells were cultured for 4 days.
• the cells were washed and media was changed after 20hr to remove the free virus and free activation reagent.
• the dissolution buffer was utilized to also remove the activation reagent.
• the expression of GFP was measured by flow cytometry.
• the Cloudz® human T cell activation reagent was more effective as compared to TransAct® and CTS CD3/CD28 Dynabeads® in maximizing transduction efficiency using the rapid manufacturing workflow.
• the amount of viral vector employed was kept low to easily facilitate differences between conditions as opposed to using excess virus to maximize transduction efficiency.
• the rapid manufacturing workflow also works with soluble CD3 and/or soluble CD3 and CD28 antibodies (Figure 2C).
• Figure 2C the use of the widely used CD3 antibody, OKT3, is possible with this workflow ( Figure 2C).
• OKT3 CD3 antibody stimulation functioned more efficiently than Immunocult® in terms of transduction efficiency in this manufacturing workflow ( Figure 2C).
• both surface bound (ex. plate or flask) CD3 antibody and soluble CD3 antibody lead to similar activation of CD4 and CD8 T cells as measured by CD69 expression at the product harvest (20 hours after culture initiation).
• Transact® led to a reduced level of CD69 upregulation in CD4 T cells as compared to the groups treated with soluble/surface bound CD3.
• This finding shows that either soluble CD3 or CD3 bound to the culture container can be used efficiently for T cell activation using the rapid workflow. Further these activation reagents appear superior to other agents such as TransAct®.
• the manufacturing process can be further simplified to be performed in the absence of any exogenous cytokine to further reduce costs and to prevent stimulatory effects on the T cells that may lead to undesirable differentiation/activation.
• the rapid T cell manufacturing was also nearly as efficient in leading to GFP transduction of T calls when comparing manufacturing performed with and without cytokine.
• Another key attribute of the manufacturing process is the culture duration.
• the manufacturing process was compared utilizing a 6 hour and 17 hour culture duration.
• the Cloudz® reagent was removed using the dissolution buffer, the cells were washed to remove virus and suspended in fresh media without virus or activation reagent for a total of 72 hours of culture in order to measure CAR expression.
• a 6 hour culture duration of lentiviral vector and the T cell activation reagent was insufficient to lead to significant CD 19 CAR expression as measured at 3 days by flow cytometry.
• Intermediate durations greater than hours and less than around 15 hours is not viewed as preferable due to limitations of being able to perform the manufacturing during typical work day hours.
• the manufacturing platform can utilize PBMCs or monocyte depleted PBMCs as a starting source and the product is cultured less than one day, the final product will consist of additional mononuclear cells in addition to T cells.
• 3 manufacturing runs were performed using the method described in the section Detailed example of rapid manufacturing workflow. As seen in Table 2, T cells are the largest fraction of the product, but the product also contains smaller numbers of B cells, NK cells and monocytes.
• this testing was performed after thaw of the product.
• CD19, CD56, and CD14 antibodies as well as 7-AAD to assess viability.
• CD 19 CAR-T cells As significant expression of proteins such as CARs after lentiviral transduction does not occur within 17-20 hours after in the T cells, in order to assess the activity of a transduced CD 19 CAR-T product in vitro, we manufactured CD 19 CAR-T cells from monocyte depleted PBMCs using the manufacturing workflow described in the section Detailed example of rapid manufacturing workflow. After 20hr of activation/transduction, the cells were washed of free virus and the CloudZ® T cell activation reagent was removed. The cells were then cultured for a total culture period of 3 days and then assessed for cytotoxic activity against target RAJI human lymphoma cells and CAR surface expression was measured. As seen in Table 3, the rapid manufactured CAR-T cells were able to efficiently lyse RAJI tumor cells.
• Monocyte depleted PBMCs were transduced with CD 19 CAR lentiviral vector and T cells were activated with the CloudZ® T cell activation reagent as described in the section Detailed example of rapid manufacturing workflow.
• the free virus was removed and T cell activation reagent was dissolved after 20hr and the cell culture was continued for 3 days.
• the cytotoxic activity of the CD 19 CAR-T cells was assessed against RAJI tumor cells by measuring the loss of calcien AM dye from the tumor cells after a 4 hour co-culture with CAR-T cells by flow cytometry.
• the CD 19 CAR expression was measured by flow cytometry using an FMC63 specific antibody (AcroBiosystems).
• the activity of the T cells was also evaluated in mouse models to demonstrate the efficacy of the product.
• the full expression of the CAR occurs in vivo and subsequently enable the T cells to attain their cytotoxic activity against cells expressing human CD 19.
• this in vivo studied utilized cryopreserved cells that were manufactured for 17 hours starting with monocyte depleted PBMCs and transduced with CD 19 CAR lentiviral vector following the workflow described in the section Detailed example of rapid manufacturing workflow.
• This product that expresses the CD 19 CAR was termed UF-KURE19 cells.
• Cells that were manufactured using the same workflow but were maintained in culture for 6 days instead of 17 hours were termed Kurel9.
• the cells were tested in a circulating mouse model of human lymphoma that involves the injection intravenously of human RAJI tumor cells into immunodeficient mice (NSG) followed by the intravenous injection of a single dose of CAR-T product 7 days after tumor cell injection. Though traditionally, ⁇ 5 million CAR T cells are used in this model to demonstrate significant efficacy, lower doses were utilized due to an expected increase in potency of the rapid manufactured product.
• UF-KURE19 In this case for the UF-Kurel9 product, doses of 2 and 4 million CAR positive T cells were utilized for the UF-KURE19 cohorts and 2 million CAR positive T cells for the 6 day manufactured product. As can be seen in Figure 5, UF-KURE19 cells demonstrate marked efficacy at both the low and high dose level. In contrast, while the 6 day cultured product demonstrates reduced tumor progression as compared to vehicle treated mice, the efficacy is dramatically reduced when compared to the UF-KURE19 product. Similar to the mouse studies employing Kurel9, UF- KURE19 injected groups tolerated the therapy well (as monitored by weight change, feeding, appearance and behavior) with no obvious signs of toxicity.
• CD 19 CAR-T cells have been found to persist (as measured by detection of the transgene) for months and even years.
• the Tisa-cel product has been found to persist for at least 2 years in some patients that have had favorable clinical outcomes (10).
• the proliferation of human T cells in the blood of RAJI lymphoma tumor bearing NSG mice was measured by flow cytometry.
• the blood samples for these measurements were derived from the mouse efficacy study shown above.
• the efficacy of the UF-KURE19 cells is significantly higher than the 6 day manufactured KURE19 CAR-T cells which correlates with human T cell expansion.
• T cells were purified from peripheral blood using the RosetteSep® Human T cell Enrichment kit (StemCell Technologies). As seen in Table 5, in CD8+ T cells when comparing product that was manufactured starting with isolated T cells as compared to monocyte depleted PBMCs, it is observed that the CD8+ T cell component of the product is not identical. In particular, when starting with PBMCs there is a slightly lower level of effector memory T cells and a slightly higher percentage of TEMRA cells. The role of the CD8+ TEMRA cells is not fully elucidated but they are thought to impart increased cytotoxic activity that may be beneficial.
• the level of the highly beneficial naive T cells that are known to correlate with CAR-T efficacy is similar starting with PBMCs or isolated T cells in the CD8+ T cell compartment, however, there is a higher percent of the beneficial central memory T cells in the PBMCs as compared to isolated T cells and lower level of the more differentiated and less desirable effector memory cells.
• the highly beneficial naive T cell percentage when starting with PBMCs as compared to isolated T cells.
• cytokines may be more important for manufacturing when employing isolated T cells as a starting source. It is possible that the PBMCs provide an endogenous source of cytokines.
• T cells were manufactured using the rapid workflow described in the section Detailed example of rapid manufacturing workflow or using the identical workflow except isolated T cells were used as a starting cell source. After 20 hours the cells were assessed for T cell phenotype by flow cytometry.
• CD 19 CAR-T cells were manufactured using the rapid manufacturing workflow starting with monocyte depleted PBMCs using either IL-7 (lOng/ml) and IL- 15 (5ng/ml) or no cytokine during the culture.
• IL-7 lOng/ml
• IL- 15 5ng/ml
• the same human lymphoma tumor model (RAJI) inNSGmice described above was employed. In this case 1.2xl0 6 CD19 CAR positive T cells were injected per mouse 7 days after tumor cell injection.
• the CAR-T product manufactured in the complete absence of exogenous cytokine efficiently controlled tumor progression in a similar fashion as the product manufactured with cytokine. All vehicle control mice were dead from disease progression prior to the imaging performed on day 45.
• the low dose of 1.2xl0 6 CD19 CAR positive T cells showed high efficacy as shown in figure 6A further demonstrating the potency of the rapid CAR-T product.
• This study also clearly demonstrates exogenous cytokine is not needed to create a rapid (less than 1 day) manufactured CAR-T product starting from PBMCs.
• the apheresis sample was washed by centrifugation to remove plasma and reduce the number of contaminating platelets. (If a peripheral blood draw was used instead of an apheresis sample then the PBMCs were isolated such as by ficoll based isolation method).
• the apheresis sample was diluted in culture media such as TexMACS (Miltenyi Biotec) supplemented with CTS immune cell serum replacement (ThermoFisher Scientific), incubated in a tissue culture flask(s) or cell culture bags and placed in a culture incubator at 37°C ( ⁇ 2°C) to adhere monocytes at a concentration up to 5 million cells per ml.
• non-adhered cells were transferred to new tissue culture flask(s) or bag(s).
• the volume was adjusted to 2 million cells per ml with culture media containing IL7 (lOng/ml) and IL15 (5ng/ml).
• the culture media can also be prepared without the addition of any exogenous cytokine or with IL-7 alone, IL15 alone or other cytokines).
• Cloudz® CD3/CD28 T cell activation reagent (R&D Systems/Biotechne) can be added to the flasks containing the monocyte depleted and processed apheresis product.
• More activation reagents including Soluble CD3 antibody, soluble CD3/CD28 antibody, surface bound CD3 antibody with or without CD28 soluble antibody, Immunocult® (Stemcell Technologies) or any other T cell activation reagent can be used).
• Viral vector was added to the flasks or bags containing the monocyte depleted PBMCs immediately after addition of the T cell activation reagent using a multiplicity of infection (MOI) determined to lead to lead to a copy number per cell of less than 5.
• MOI multiplicity of infection
• GMP-grade 6X Release Buffer (R&D Systems/Biotechne) was added directly to the flasks or bags containing the activated/transduced cells if the cells were activated using the Cloudz® reagent. Next, the cells were washed and resuspended in freezing buffer such as Plasmalyte-A, 5% HSA and 5% DMSO in cryobag(s) or vial(s).
• the manufacturing workflow included here is paired with a method to remove the free residual plasmid DNA so that the PCR reactions or other molecular testing can be performed for both vector copy number and replication competent lentivirus without this false positive reaction.
• free plasmid DNA is much smaller than genomic DNA.
• a centrifugation based method is used to deplete out the small DNA while maintaining the larger genomic DNA. Using this method there is no false positive reactivity from the plasmid DNA which overcomes a major hurdle for rapid CAR-T manufacturing while it is still feasible to measure DNA integrated into the genome.
• small sized DNA can be depleted while the genomic DNA can be maintained using centrifugation (ex. using solutions such as salt/polymer solutions to preferentially precipitate high molecular weight DNA).
• centrifugation ex. using solutions such as salt/polymer solutions to preferentially precipitate high molecular weight DNA.
• the PacBio short read eliminator kit PaneBio; Menlo Park, California
• the PacBio short read eliminator kit can be used and enables this separation from a single centrifugation step (circulomics.com/store/Short-Read-Eliminator-Kit-pl31401036).
• an alternate method is to utilize 4% PVP 360,000, 1.2 M KCL, 20 mM Tris-HCL ph 8 in the protocol described below instead of the commercial buffer SRE as it has been previously shown to effectively deplete small size fragments (ex. ⁇ 10kb from total DNA) (11).
• the purified DNA can then be used directly for the assay testing (ex. qPCR assays). While this kit was not designed for this particular indication, it functions well and provides a simple, cost effective and rapid approach.
• One example of how this method can be employed is to initially isolate total DNA using any commercial total DNA isolation kit that can isolate human genomic DNA (ex. DNeasy Blood and Tissue Kit, Qiagen, Hilden, Germany). Next the following method or similar approach can be followed to remove low fragment DNA.
• Buffer SRE was addedto the starting genomic DNA sample and mix thoroughly by pipetting. If the PacBio or other commercial reagents are not employed, 4% PVP 360,000, 1.2 M KCL, 20 mM Tris-HCL ph 8 can be added to the total DNA sample at a 1 : 1 volume ratio.
• the low fragment depleted DNA as well as the total DNA samples were tested for replication competent lentivirus using a real-time PCR assay for VSV-G and vector integration using a real-time PCR assay for GAG and the housekeeping gene PTBP2.
• the primers and fluorescent probes used for the PCR reactions can be found in Table 6.
• the vector copy number per transduced cell was determined using the rapid manufacturing workflow when employing an MOI of the CD19 CAR vector of 10: 1 except the cells were harvested at 20 hours, 3 days and 7 days.
• the SRE kit (PacBio) was utilized to remove low fragment DNA.
• the vector integration results were similar across all time points.
• CD 19 CAR surface expression is very low at 20 hours, though it is fully expressed around 72 hours.
• PBMCs peripheral blood mononuclear cells
• monocyte depleted PBMCs directly isolated from peripheral blood can be utilized. Therefore, it does not require purified T cells that was assumed to be important for a rapid CAR-T workflow involving viral transduction. As far as we are aware, this is the first 1 day or less protocol employing PBMCs and not isolated T cells as a starting source for rapid genetically modified T cell manufacturing using viral transduction.
• the presently described activation approaches provide improved transduction efficiency coupled with the avoidance of increased costs and increased manufacturing complexity involved with utilizing magnetic beads as required in prior art methods.
• the presently described manufacturing process is the first workflow rapid CAR-T manufacturing workflow described that can be performed efficiently in the absence of exogenous cytokines. Cytokines during manufacturing add significantly increased costs and can also lead to changes in the T cells. As a major benefit of the rapid manufacturing workflow is to maintain the starting population of T cells (ex. naive T cells) as close to possible as the original cells collected from the patient, the avoidance of exogenous cytokines is viewed as a major benefit.
• the presently described methods overcome a key hurdle in the field of performing required product release tests.
• Current required release test requirements for retroviral or lentiviral transduced cell therapy products include assessing replication competent lentivirus and vector copy number. Both of these assays have significant false positive results when there is even low level contamination with free plasmid when using the traditional qPCR based assays. Residual free plasmid from viral producer cells such as 293 cells is present in viral vector. At early time points during manufacturing after viral transduction, there is residual plasmid remaining from the vector and false positive results are nearly impossible to eliminate using traditional testing methodologies. This false positive reactivity has been a major roadblock for other groups and limits the ability to rapidly manufacture products that can be used into patients.
• the manufacturing workflow included here is paired with a method to remove the free residual plasmid DNA so that the qPCR reactions can be performed for both vector copy number and replication competent lentivirus without this false positive reaction.
• free plasmid DNA is much smaller than genomic DNA.
• a centrifugation based method is used to deplete out the small DNA while maintaining the larger genomic DNA. Using this method there is no false positive reactivity from the plasmid DNA which overcomes a major hurdle for rapid CAR-T manufacturing while it is still feasible to measure DNA integrated into the genome.
• nucleotides and polypeptides disclosed herein are included in publicly-available databases, such as GENBANK® and SWISSPROT. Information including sequences and other information related to such nucleotides and polypeptides included in such publicly-available databases are expressly incorporated by reference. Unless otherwise indicated or apparent the references to such publicly-available databases are references to the most recent version of the database as of the filing date of this Application.
• the term “about,” when referring to a value or to an amount of mass, weight, time, volume, concentration or percentage is meant to encompass variations of in some embodiments ⁇ 20%, in some embodiments ⁇ 10%, in some embodiments ⁇ 5%, in some embodiments ⁇ 1%, in some embodiments ⁇ 0.5%, in some embodiments ⁇ 0.1%, in some embodiments ⁇ 0.01%, and in some embodiments ⁇ 0.001% from the specified amount, as such variations are appropriate to perform the disclosed method.
• the use of the term “or” in the claims is used to mean “and/or” unless explicitly indicated to refer to alternatives only or if the alternatives are mutually exclusive.
• ranges can be expressed as from “about” one particular value, and/or to “about” another particular value. It is also understood that there are a number of values disclosed herein, and that each value is also herein disclosed as “about” that particular value in addition to the value itself. For example, if the value “10” is disclosed, then “about 10” is also disclosed. It is also understood that each unit between two particular units are also disclosed. For example, if 10 and 15 are disclosed, then 11, 12, 13, and 14 are also disclosed.
• an optionally variant portion means that the portion is variant or non-variant.

Landscapes

• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Genetics & Genomics (AREA)
• Biomedical Technology (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Organic Chemistry (AREA)
• Biotechnology (AREA)
• Zoology (AREA)
• Bioinformatics & Cheminformatics (AREA)
• Wood Science & Technology (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Immunology (AREA)
• Biochemistry (AREA)
• General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Microbiology (AREA)
• Cell Biology (AREA)
• Hematology (AREA)
• Molecular Biology (AREA)
• Biophysics (AREA)
• Virology (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Plant Pathology (AREA)
• Toxicology (AREA)
• Gastroenterology & Hepatology (AREA)
• Medicinal Chemistry (AREA)
• Proteomics, Peptides & Aminoacids (AREA)
• Micro-Organisms Or Cultivation Processes Thereof (AREA)
• Medicines Containing Material From Animals Or Micro-Organisms (AREA)
• Measuring Or Testing Involving Enzymes Or Micro-Organisms (AREA)
• Apparatus Associated With Microorganisms And Enzymes (AREA)

Priority Applications (14)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=86903666

Family Applications (2)

Family Applications After (1)

Country Status (14)

Cited By (3)

Family Cites Families (5)

• 2022
  • 2022-12-22 JP JP2024535789A patent/JP2024546145A/ja active Pending
  • 2022-12-22 IL IL313516A patent/IL313516A/en unknown
  • 2022-12-22 AR ARP220103561A patent/AR128077A1/es unknown
  • 2022-12-22 KR KR1020247024364A patent/KR20240123837A/ko active Pending
  • 2022-12-22 US US18/714,302 patent/US20250027042A1/en active Pending
  • 2022-12-22 CN CN202280085189.1A patent/CN119698465A/zh active Pending
  • 2022-12-22 EP EP22912490.4A patent/EP4453188A4/en active Pending
  • 2022-12-22 AU AU2022422123A patent/AU2022422123A1/en active Pending
  • 2022-12-22 MX MX2024007669A patent/MX2024007669A/es unknown
  • 2022-12-22 WO PCT/US2022/053815 patent/WO2023122277A2/en not_active Ceased
  • 2022-12-22 UY UY0001040089A patent/UY40089A/es unknown
  • 2022-12-22 CA CA3239503A patent/CA3239503A1/en active Pending
• 2023
  • 2023-06-19 JP JP2025536953A patent/JP2026501322A/ja active Pending
  • 2023-06-19 EP EP23908030.2A patent/EP4638711A1/en active Pending
  • 2023-06-19 WO PCT/US2023/025663 patent/WO2024136920A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2023-08-02 AR ARP230102033A patent/AR130098A1/es unknown
• 2024
  • 2024-06-21 CL CL2024001919A patent/CL2024001919A1/es unknown
  • 2024-07-04 CO CONC2024/0008914A patent/CO2024008914A2/es unknown

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events