The February 3, 2022 online edition of MedTech Intelligence features The Last Major Technical Hurdle for Personalized Medicine – Manufacturability written by StarFish Medical Bio Services Program Manager, Joris van der Heijden, Ph.D.
“Although the future is exciting, it also poses real challenges. More collaborative initiatives need to take place between drug manufacturers and developers of manufacturing equipment and consumables.” Van der Heijden emphasizes, “Amazing new personalized treatments coming from innovative drug development programs deserve to make it to patients around the world. Drug manufacturing process engineers should not consider themselves limited by existing tooling and equipment.”
The article examines the famous and successful CAR-T cell therapy for the treatment of B-cell lymphoma which paved the way for numerous other personalized treatments such as CRISPR. “Personalized cell therapies are bound to further revolutionize the world of medicine.” However, Van der Heijden concludes, “the future of personalized medicine is exciting, but it also poses real challenges. Never before have we re-invented the way we manufacture and administer drugs/treatments on such a scale. Each and every personalized treatment comes with its own set of manufacturing challenges […] Given the explosion of new personalized approaches and the need for new and affordable innovative manufacturing tooling and equipment, I expect a serious shortage of equipment and consumables for manufacturing of personalized treatments in the near term.”
Joris van der Heijden is the StarFish Medical Bio Services Program Manager. Previously he was Director of R&D at Spartan Bioscience where he led the development of a point-of-care COVID-19 diagnostic test. Joris received his PhD in infectious diseases from UBC.
About MedTech Intelligence
MedTech Intelligence is a digital media community for medical technology innovators, healthcare delivery professionals, and industry regulators working to improve patient care and provide greater access to affordable, efficient healthcare. We inform, educate and connect Medical Device, Diagnostic, Digital Health and Regulatory organizations with original in-depth features and reports, curated industry news and user-contributed content, and live and virtual conferences that offer knowledge, perspective, strategies, and resources to aid in medical technology development, inspire collaboration, and share innovative solutions.
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About StarFish Medical
Empowering Medtech Innovation®
StarFish Medical is a full service Medical Device Design company offering design, development, and manufacturing services based in Toronto and Victoria. We use our Pathfinder™ process to reduce wasted effort and increase success for medical device product definition, technical engineering, and product development. Prototype and volume production are delivered within an ISO 13485 certified Quality Management System, manufacturing and clean room facilities. www.starfishmedical.com
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250.388.3537 x210