It has been developed by the Advanced Therapy Treatment Centre (ATTC) network, London Advanced Therapies (LAT) and the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult (CGTC), in partnership with Health Education England eLearning for healthcare.
The developer said the series of eLearning sessions is designed to give the learner a core understanding of advanced therapies, how they function in the body, and the steps involved in delivering these medicines. The modules take the learner from the basics of cell and gene therapy, through to a more in-depth look at products currently being delivered through both commissioned treatments and clinical trials.
Learners will also be introduced to the challenges involved in bringing advanced therapy treatments to patients, including the often nuanced logistical and handling requirements that can present particular challenges within usual standard of care.
The sessions comprise the following topics:
- Introduction to advanced therapy medicinal products
- In vivo gene therapies
- Immune effector cell therapy
- Focus on CAR-T cell therapy
- The logistics of ATMPs in hospitals
- Safe use of low temperature transport vessels
When asked why there is a need to provide an educational program for healthcare and academic professionals on ATMPs, Matthew Durdy, Chief Executive of the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult, told us:
“By providing educational support to healthcare and academic professionals we can help enable further clinical adoption and improve patient access to these potentially life changing cell and gene therapies.
“As more ATMPs enter late-stage clinical trials, there is a need for clinicians and healthcare professionals to undergo high quality and standardized training to facilitate the transition into the NHS.
“ATMPs are complex therapies, and as we scale up our delivery of ATMPs across patient groups it is essential that all staff involved in the delivery of them, including academics, clinical and government staff, are supported by professional training.”
He also outlined the benefits for manufacturers of ATMPs from bringing healthcare and academic professionals up to speed on these therapies:
“By enabling a smoother transition from the clinic into the NHS, manufactures and developers of these ATMPs will benefit from swifter commercialization and being able to deliver more potential life changing therapies to the patients that need them. With the UK ATMP industry expanding rapidly, adoption and use of ATMPs is key to continued growth and increasing patient access.”