Towards Automated Manufacturing for Cell Therapies.

Purpose Of Review: Many cell therapy products are beginning to reach the commercial finish line and a rapidly escalating pipeline of products are in clinical development. The need to develop manufacturing capability that will support a successful commercial business model has become a top priority as many cell therapy developers look to secure long-term visions to enable both funding and treatment success.

Recent Findings: Manufacturing automation is both highly compelling and very challenging at the same time as a key tactic to address quality, cost of goods, scale, and sustainability that are fundamental drivers for commercially viable manufacturing.

Effect of environmental conditions on degree of hoof wall hydration in horses.

Objective: To determine the effect of various environmental conditions on the degree of hydration in hoof wall horn tissue from feral horses and investigate the effect of short-term foot soaking on moisture content in hoof wall and sole tissue in domestic horses.

Animals: 40 feral horses from 3 environments (wet and boggy [n = 10], partially flooded [20], and constantly dry desert [10]) and 6 nonferal Quarter Horses.

Procedures: The percentage of moisture content of hoof wall samples from feral horses was measured in vitro.

Nutritional analysis of gastric contents and body condition score at a single time point in feral horses in Australia.

Objective: To determine the impact of a free-choice diet on nutritional intake and body condition of feral horses.

Animals: Cadavers of 41 feral horses from 5 Australian locations.

Procedures: Body condition score (BCS) was determined (scale of 1 to 9), and the stomach was removed from horses during postmortem examination.

Evaluation of primary epidermal lamellar density in the forefeet of near-term fetal Australian feral and domesticated horses.

Objective: To investigate the density of the primary epidermal lamellae (PEL) around the solar circumference of the forefeet of near-term fetal feral and nonferal (ie, domesticated) horses.

Sample: Left forefeet from near-term Australian feral (n = 14) and domesticated (4) horse fetuses.

Procedures: Near-term feral horse fetuses were obtained from culled mares within 10 minutes of death; fetuses that had died in utero 2 weeks prior to anticipated birth date and were delivered from live Thoroughbred mares were also obtained.

Sole depth and weight-bearing characteristics of the palmar surface of the feet of feral horses and domestic Thoroughbreds.

Objective: To determine solar load-bearing structures in the feet of feral horses and investigate morphological characteristics of the sole in feral horses and domestic Thoroughbreds.

Sample: Forelimbs from cadavers of 70 feral horses and 20 domestic Thoroughbreds in Australia.

Procedures: Left forefeet were obtained from 3 feral horse populations from habitats of soft substrate (SS [n = 10 horses]), hard substrate (HS [10]), and a combination of SS and HS (10) and loaded in vitro.

Single-pass, closed-system rapid expansion of lymphocyte cultures for adoptive cell therapy.

Adoptive cell therapy (ACT) for metastatic melanoma involves the ex vivo expansion and reinfusion of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) obtained from resected specimens. With an overall objective response rate of 56%, this T-cell immunotherapy provides an appealing alternative to other therapies, including conventional therapies with lower response rates. However, there are significant regulatory and logistical concerns associated with the ex vivo activation and large-scale expansion of these cells.