Institute of Transfusion and Transplant Engineering
Hannover Medical School
OUR VISION
A comprehensive, detailed, patient monitoring, an anticipatory treatment pattern for patients either with or at highest risk for pathogen-associated complications after transplantation, and the in-time applicability of potential T-cell donors and clinical-grade antigen-specific T cells will help to avoid life-threatening complications and minimize adverse side effects.
Infectious complications caused by herpesviruses such as cytomegalovirus (CMV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and human herpesvirus (HHV)-6, lytic agents such as adenovirus (ADV), and polyoma virus BK (BKV) are the most common causes of viral morbidity and mortality after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) or solid organ transplantation (SOT). Moreover, the number of patients without prior history of transplantation but with severe pathogen-associated complications is increasing. Antiviral agents can reduce the incidence of early viral diseases, but they are also associated with substantial toxicity and may result in delayed immune reconstitution. Insufficient specific T-cell responses against these pathogens are linked to severe courses of diseases, and the occurrence of pathogen-specific T cells is essential for long-term protection against these pathogens.
The adoptive transfer of allogeneic antiviral T lymphocytes derived from seropositive donors can safely and effectively reduce or prevent the clinical manifestation of these viruses in patients without causing acute toxicities or increasing the risk of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). alloCELL was established for the purpose of providing personalized, antiviral T-cell immunotherapeutics to patients in need, identifying suitable T-cell donors, and monitoring programs for pathogen-specific T cells in patients before and after T-cell therapy. alloCELL believes that a comprehensive, detailed, patient monitoring, an anticipatory treatment pattern for patients either with or at highest risks for pathogen-associated complications after transplantation, and the in-time applicability of T-cell donors and clinical-grade antigen-specific Tcells will help to avoid life-threatening complications and minimize adverse side effects.
The cellular facility alloCELL is an academic, non-profit program that integrates T-cell diagnostics, T-cell donor selection, and GMP-compliant manufacturing of personalized antigen-specific T-cell units.
We aim
tobroaden the applicability of the described structures for a broad patient cohort, continuously improve and advance monitoring and treatment strategies and protocols for already known pathogens, extend our work to further infections including cancer antigens, and establish modular platforms and protocols, which can be used to harmonize T-cell monitoring and manufacturing by other transplant centers worldwide.