Phacilitate Advanced Therapies Week 2022 Recap

By Drew Carlson, Applications Development Manager – Life Sciences

Conversations and Collaboration

Advanced Therapies Week, organized by Phacilitate, certainly gets a gold star from many attendees regarding their chosen location of Miami Beach. The warm weather is a welcome bonus in the heart of winter for many of the 300+ Cell and Gene Therapy focused companies attending the show. Now requiring a negative COVID PCR test within 72 hours of stepping through the door (regardless of vaccine status), the traffic was expectedly lighter than usual. However, with the conference’s intent of bringing together developers, investors, and solution providers whose goal is to bring cell and gene therapies to patients, there was no shortage of conversation and collaboration.

Key Focus Areas

A couple of key focus areas I saw spread throughout the exhibitors and frequently coming up in conversation were around mRNA-based medicines and cold chain logistics/requirements. They aren’t related in all applications, but I’d like to touch on both briefly to highlight the topics within.

Since the emergency approval of mRNA COVID vaccines, it is not a secret that drug manufacturers are focusing their efforts on this fast and effective delivery vehicle. Within the design of the mRNA process, the “delivery vehicle” is paramount to the success of the mRNA treatment. The fastest-growing vehicles are non-viral methods (lipid, lipid nanoparticle, polymer, etc.). Compatibility, protection, and inert characteristics to the storage materials are becoming common hurdles within the space. Savillex can support these applications with fluoropolymers, ideal for processing non-viral vehicles.

As a part of autologous treatments and personalized medicine, the logistical chain of manufacturing, including transport and storage requirements of patient-derived cells, must continue to evolve with the complexity of the treatments. The growth of cold chain product services has grown immensely, and previous requirements of refrigeration or dry ice temperatures are now being replaced by vapor phase LN₂ or liquid nitrogen environments. Standard industry materials like PET, PETG, PC, HDPE, etc., are not resilient to such environments, but a Savillex fluoropolymer product can.

The Purillex^® Solution

Savillex can help alleviate your extreme process parameter product needs with our single-use, clean, and pre-sterilized Purillex^® fluoropolymer products – the ultimate in convenience. From improving your operational flexibility and reducing the risk of contamination to lowering your costs, you get the quality products you expect from Savillex with unmatched convenience in the industry. And now, with our brand new 1,300 square ft cleanroom dedicated to single-use integration services, including tubing sets and assemblies, we can provide comprehensive, customizable integration services designed to fit your process.

I look forward to seeing you at upcoming industry shows such as Tides, Interphex, ISPE, Meeting on the Mesa, and others. Check back on our website or contact us at info@savillex.com for more information about where you can see Savillex products and speak to experts in fluoropolymer product solutions for CGT and Bioprocessing.