# Presentation: 012303

## Division of Cellular and Gene Therapies (DCGT)

- Raj K. Puri, M.D., Ph.D.
- Director,
- Office of Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Site Visit September 29, 2005

## Outline

- Division Organization
- Mission and DCGT Activities
- Regulatory workload
- Researcher Reviewer Model
- DCGT Resources
- Key Regulatory Challenges in Cellular and Gene therapies
- Critical Path Research Opportunities

## Division of Cellular and Gene Therapies

**Raj Puri, M.D., Ph.D., Division Director**
**Stephanie Simek, Ph.D., Deputy Director**

**Laboratory of Stem Cell Biology**
**Steve Bauer, Ph.D.,  ****Acting Chief**

**Laboratory of Immunology **
**and Developmental Biology**
** ****Suzanne Epstein, Ph.D., Chief**

**Laboratory of Molecular **
**Tumor Biology**
**Raj Puri, M.D.,Ph.D., Chief**

**Cell Therapies Branch**
**Kimberly Benton, Ph.D., ****Chief**

**Gene Therapies Branch**
**Martiza McIntyre, Ph.D.,****Chief**

**Laboratory of Immunology and **
**Virology**
**Eda Bloom, Ph.D., Chief**

## DCGT Mission

- Evaluate investigational new drug, device, biological license, and pre-market applications for cellular, tissue engineering, and gene therapy products
- Bring FDA, industry, patient advocates, scientists, and the public together in new partnerships to promote and develop new therapies for the 21st Century, while protecting human subjects and maximizing biological product safety
- Plan and conduct research to support the Critical Path for cellular, tissue engineering, and gene therapy product development

## DCGT Products:

- Cellular Therapy

*Circulation *2002;106:1913

- Stem cells
- Pancreatic islets
- Cord blood cells
- Chondrocytes
- Lymphocytes
- Macrophages
- Myocytes

## Tumor Vaccines

- Cells
- Lysates
- Proteins, peptides
- Gene therapies
- Idiotypic and anti-idiotypic antibodies

## Xenotransplantation

- (Cells and Tissues)

- Animal sources

- Recipients,                Contacts and the Public

- Procure & Process Xenotransplantation Product

## Gene Therapy

- Two Types of Gene Therapy

***Ex Vivo***

- Donor/

- Recipient

- Cell

- Vector

***In Vivo***

- Recipient

- Cell

- Virus/Vector

- Manipulated Cells

- Expansion
- of cells

## Tissue Engineering

- Combination products  containing living cells/tissues/matrix
- Artificial bladder
- Artificial pancreas

## DCGT Activities

- 	Ensure the safety of cellular, tissue engineering, and gene therapy products through:
- Development and implementation of a comprehensive risk-based regulatory framework
- Evaluation of new technologies for product characterization and rapid assessment of product safety
- Development of FDA Policies and Guidances for the regulation of cellular and gene therapy products

## DCGT Activities continued..

- Inspections:
- of manufacturing facilities
- Consultation and Education:
- Provide scientific and technical advice to other CBER Offices, FDA Centers, and Government Agencies
- Information sharing and discussion with sponsors
- Counterterrorism:
- COOP Coordination and Laboratory Red Alert Plan
- Participation in FDA’s CT exercise/simulations

## DCGT Activities continued..

- Community Outreach: (seminars, panel discussions)
- Stem Cell
- Tumor Vaccine
- National and International Cell Therapy and Cell Transplant
- Gene Therapy
- Tissue Engineering
- Xenotransplantation
- Foundations, Consumers and Patient Advocacy Groups e.g., National Hemophilia Foundation (NHF), Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Foundation, etc.

## DCGT Activities continued..

- Partnerships:
- Development of Retrovirus and Adenovirus reference material
- NIH Stem cell task force to address scientific issues
- MOU with NIH NINDS and NHLBI for sharing of information and expertise
- ERCC and Fluorescence standards for microarray and flow technologies
- National Toxicology Program
- Inter Agency Oncology Task Force between NCI and FDA for joint fellowship training program

## DCGT Regulatory Workload (IND, IDE, 510k, MF)

- 2002

- 2003

- 2004

## Phases of Active Cellular and Gene Therapy INDs

- (370)

- (247)

## DCGT Research Priorities:Driven by Critical Path Challenges

- Virology 	(retrovirus, adenovirus, herpesvirus)
- Immunology  (host-vector interactions, transplant rejection)
- Developmental biology (control pathways in animal models,
-     stem cell biology)
- Molecular and cell biology (cancer biology, animal models)
- Biomedical technologies:
- 			•  Microarray
- 			•  Proteomics
- 			•  Flow cytometry
- Counterterrorism research

## Researcher Reviewer Model 

- Cellular, tissue engineering, and gene therapies evolve rapidly and continually present new regulatory challenges
- These novel products raise extraordinarily complex issues
- DCGT seeks to foster a cadre of Researcher Reviewer scientists who :
- perform regulatory review and identify Critical Path research needs to enhance and promote product development and patient safety
- perform research in key areas to support the FDA mission and  help sponsors solve product development problems to advance cellular, tissue engineering and gene therapy products to the market place

## Types of Researcher Reviewers 

- Principle investigators (PIs) – tenured or tenure track researcher reviewers
- Staff Scientists – tenured researcher reviewers supporting PIs program: do both review and research
- Technicians: do primarily research, some do limited review work
- Staff Fellows: do both review and research work
- Postdoctoral fellows funded as ORISE, IRTA: do primarily research
- 	Note:  Resources are provided to PIs

## DCGT Resources: Budget

- Sixty employees (47 FTEs; 13 Post-doctoral fellows)
- Eleven Regulatory Scientists
- Twelve PIs – Research-review
- Four staff scientists, 7 staff fellows, 13 technicians
- ORISE/IRTA fellows support – funding from CBER
-     or grants
- Many PIs supplement research activities from inside and outside grants (e.g., NVP, OSHC), CRADAs, royalties

## Responsibilities of PIs

- Product review
-     INDs, IDEs, PMA, 510k, HDEs, licenses, master files, inspections
-       - regulatory mentoring by lab chiefs and branch chiefs
- Policy development
-      working groups, guidance development, advisory committees
- Outreach
-      presubmittal advice, scientific and regulatory talks, refereeing and editing for journals, chairing sessions at scientific conferences, scientific collaborations relevant to the Critical Path
- Research** **
-      lab management, training/mentoring/supervising, publishing papers, grant writing, leveraging/collaboration

## Research Assessment/Management

- Regulatory workload and quality
- Publications (including research articles)
- Success in securing external funding
- Promotion and Conversion Evaluation (PCE) Committee review
- Site visit and CBER Advisory Committee recommendations

## Assessment Tools for the Regulatory Workload of Researcher-Reviewers

- Reporting total active INDs, original submissions, amendments requiring product review, preIND meetings, 	other applications (510k, IDEs, license supplements)
- Description of special workloads: products in phase 3 - unusually labor-intensive reviews
- Other regulatory work: policy and guidance development, advisory committee meetings, outreach talks

## Complexities and Key Challenges in Cellular and Gene Therapy Products

## Complexity of a Gene Therapy Product

***Ex Vivo***** Transduced HSC**

## Complexity continued...

**HSC**
- Donor screening, adventitious agents, purity, potency
**Devices**
- Monoclonal antibodies, surface markers, extracellular matrix
**Retroviral Vectors**
- Cell substrates, adventitious agents, reversion to wild type
**Specified Products (SCF, Flt-3, etc.****)**
- Purity, potency, novel use (ancillary, not as primary effector)
**Cellular Product**
- Characterization, potency, evidence of gene transduction

## DCGT Strategies 

- Advice from Advisory Committee
- Release of Gene Therapy guidance document for Reviewers and Sponsors
- Release of long term follow up guidance document
- Research – viral and plasmid vector characterization, pathogenicity, safety testing, animal models, and assay development

## Future Challenges

- Development of new generation vectors that target specific integration sites in the host genome
- Design new generation safe gene therapy vectors for better expression and higher efficiency of gene transfer
- Design new generation vectors with low or no host immune responses

## Key Scientific Challenges in the Regulation of Cellular Products

- Rapidly and accurately confirm sterility of cellular products with a very short shelf life after final preparation
- Determine identity of complex cell mixtures
- Rapidly and accurately determine potency of cellular products

## Key Scientific Challenges in the Regulation of Cellular Products Contd.

- Stability of cellular products – effect of storage conditions on cellular product characteristics
- Comparability of cellular products - to evaluate the effects of a process or facility change
- Linking cellular product characteristics to clinical outcome

## DCGT Strategies

- Release of Cell Therapy guidance documents for Reviewers and Sponsors
- Contribution in release of FDA pharmacogenomics guidance document
- Conduct research:
- Cell-cell interactions, control of differentiation, cell signaling, and cell fate for product characterization and process controls
- Immune response and animal models for safety and efficacy

## Future Opportunities

- Develop novel technologies (e.g., genomics, proteomics) for product characterization (identity, purity, and potency) and safety testing
- Biomarkers for product quality, product safety, and adventitious agent detection
- Correlation of molecular markers with *in vivo* outcomes

## Looking Ahead

- Preparing for the next generation of products
- Improved manufacturing process controls
- Better assays for safety, purity and potency
- Future need for appropriate scientific support
- Best use of our expertise and stakeholder leverage to solve these challenges

**Safe and effective products **

## Thank You