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, have developed a new eLearning programme targeted at healthcare and academic professionals to support their learning on both the fundamentals and clinical adoption of advanced therapies.

This 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.

Advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs) are medicines for human use, which use genes, tissues or cells to offer ground-breaking new opportunities for the treatment of disease and injury. These therapies are potentially curative and can offer the promise of treating and altering the course of diseases which cannot be addressed adequately by existing pharmaceuticals, offering a lifeline to some patients who may have exhausted all other treatment options.

Learners will also be introduced to the unique challenges of bringing these pioneering advanced therapy treatments to patients, including the often nuanced logistical and handling requirements that can present unique challenges within usual standard of care.

The sessions, which can be mixed and matched according to the learner’s needs, 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

For more information and to access the sessions, visit the programme page https://www.e-lfh.org.uk/programmes/advanced-therapy-medicinal-products/

 

Professor Uta Griesenbach, Professor of Molecular Medicine, Imperial College London and Chair of the pan-UK ATMP Training Group commented:

“As more ATMPs enter late-stage clinical trials, we identified a training need for healthcare professionals to ensure fast development of ATMPs and smooth transition into the NHS. This is a fantastic example of collaboration between NHS, academia and industry, coordinated by CGTC to produce valuable training for UK personnel and future-proof the healthcare system. Access to these sessions sets the UK apart from other countries by making high quality, standardised training available to all staff involved in the delivery of these life-changing medicines.”

Professor Fiona Thistlethwaite, iMATCH Director, Medical Oncology Consultant and Christie NHIR CRF Director commented:

“Providing comprehensive training for staff to understand the complex requirements of these new therapies is essential as we scale up our delivery of ATMPs across multiple patient groups. With input from recognised ATMP experts from the ATTC network and NHS partners across the UK, staff can now use the information provided to support their continued professional development. This tailored online learning approach also allows our staff to build their knowledge in a way that fits around their schedules.”