Drones Land in the Cell and Gene Therapy Space

Cell and gene therapies could be literally flying high soon from now!

The Italy-based biotech company Anemocyte, in collaboration with RPS Aerospace,  developed a remotely piloted drone system to securely transport final cell and gene therapy products straight from manufacturing sites to clinical centers. The current prototype can also transport apheresis material, bone marrow, and biopsy specimens and is equipped with GPS tracking, anti-tampering technology, temperature control, and continuous real-time monitoring of these parameters during flights.

“Drones do call attention to several key challenges that need to be resolved in order to make cell and gene therapies, in particular autologous cell therapies, more accessible to the broader public”, stated Cenk Sumen, PhD, chair of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy Outreach and Communications Committee. This is of particular importance given that the long-distance transport of sensitive biological products to date is made by couriers and often lacks efficiency and sensibility.

However the potential use of drones still needs to overcome several barriers, of both technical and psychological nature.