Impact considerations of post-production processes on cell and gene drug products

Cell and gene therapies are demonstrating clinical efficacy, but prohibitive product costs and operational complexity bottlenecks may limit expanded patient access to these innovative and transformative products. An initial survey and subsequent article published through the International Society for Cell & Gene Therapy in 2017 presented a roadmap on how specific steps, from tissue procurement and material acquisition to facility operation and production, contribute to the high cost of cell and gene therapies. Herein the authors expanded the investigation to provide considerations to better understand how post-production procedures can impact a product's accessibility to patients. The administration of a drug product to and follow-up in a patient involve key decisions in several post-production process areas, such as product storage, distribution and handling logistics and compliance, across the value chain through integrated data management solutions. Understanding as well as carefully evaluating these specific components is not widely considered during early process development but is critical in developing a viable product life cycle.