Contract development and manufacturing organization selection: critical considerations that can make or break your cell and gene therapy development.

BACKGROUND AIMS: With the increase in cell and gene therapy (CGT) clinical trials in recent years has come a subsequent increase in the number of contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs). Successful transition from development and early-phase clinical trials to commercialization of a CGT product often depends on selecting the best-suited CDMO. However, many CGT companies are small biotech companies that lack expertise in the field or do not have experience selecting and transferring a process to a CDMO. METHODS: Given the interest in this topic, a roundtable with CGT developers and CDMO members at the 2023 annual meeting of the International Society of Cell and Gene Therapy Paris discussed these critical aspects of product development, including technical expertise, risk sharing and timing of partnerships. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Here, we'll analyze the considerations discussed by the panel and elaborate on other factors crucial for CGT development.

Functional dichotomy of plasmacytoid dendritic cells: antigen-specific activation of T cells versus production of type I interferon.

Human plasmacytoid dendritic cells (PDC) are believed to link innate and adaptive immunity by producing type I interferon (IFN-I) and triggering adaptive T cell-mediated immunity. However, it remains elusive to which degree both PDC functions are linked. Here we show that CMV antigen targeted to PDC using a CD303 (blood dendritic cell antigen 2, BDCA-2) mAb is rapidly endocytosed and traffics via early sorting endosomes to emerging MHC-enriched compartments. Both processes occur independently of TLR ligand stimulation. Restimulation of CMV-specific CD4(+) effector-memory T helper cells by autologous PDC and induction of IFN-I production in PDC are dependent on appropriate stimulation. Type B CpG oligonucleotide (CpG-B)-stimulated PDC efficiently process and present CMV antigen and are thus capable of stimulating CMV-specific effector-memory T helper cells. CpG-A-stimulated PDC produce large amounts of IFN-I and express programmed death receptor-1 ligand 1. CpG-A plus CpG-B-co-stimulated PDC behave like CpG-B-stimulated PDC, suggesting that antigen processing and presentation in PDC is dependent on stimulation that concurrently inhibits IFN-I production. In vivo targeting of antigens to PDC via CD303 combined with appropriate PDC stimulation may allow induction of specific T cell activation.