As 2023 draws to a close, we look ahead to three innovations set to transform the way we serve our community, clients and ecosystem in 2024.
1.
car-t access for South west england
In a critical step in enhancing access to cutting-edge healthcare in the South West, we are excited to announce that Biovault will support the South West Peninsula Transplant Service in 2024 in bringing CAR-T treatments to patients in Cornwall and Devon.
Currently, patients have to travel to Bristol, the nearest CAR-T centre, for treatment. By securing a Wholesale Dealers Licence (Human), or WDA(H) licence, Biovault will be able to receive and distribute CAR-T products to hospital pharmacies so they are more accessible to South West hospitals and patients.
Beyond CAR-T, our vision for 2024 includes extending the WDA(H) license to handle prescription-only medications, broadening our scope to meet the diverse healthcare needs of the community. Ben Charles, Biovault Technical’s HTA Designated Individual and JACIE Quality Manager, has already initiated this process with the successful completion of the Cogent Gold Standard training course and assessment.
2.
elevating precision with a new LIMs system
In an exciting move towards enhanced precision and efficiency, Biotech will implement a state-of-the-art Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) in 2024.
We’re working closely with the development team at lab software specialists Autoscribe Informatics to adopt a system that securely migrates our data into a future-proofed Electronic Quality Management System (eQMS) that meets Biovault Technical’s specific needs as a biobank, ensuring compliance with regulatory bodies including the MHRA, HTA, JACIE, and ICCBBA.
Strengthening data security and refining our already highly efficient systems, this LIMS upgrade represents excellence and precision in bioinformatics.
3.
net zero
2024 will see Biovault’s biggest stride towards our Net Zero commitment. Last month, we reported a significant 11.4% reduction in our carbon footprint in 2022-23, achieved mainly by addressing Scope 1 emissions: those resulting from sources we own and control.
Continuing our Make it Net Zero journey with SWMAS in 2024, our primary focus will be on Scope 2 emissions: those resulting from the energy we purchase. In April, we will be switching to fully green energy, a move we estimate will save around32,000 Kg Co2e: 67.5% of our current footprint.
SWMAS are also helping us to further interrogate our Scope 3 carbon emissions, those caused by products in our supply chain, so we can continue to deliver on our pledge to achieve carbon neutrality.
50th annual ebmt meeting
We’re looking forward to the 50th annual meeting of the EBMT (European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation) in Glasgow in April 2024, as well as their CAR-T conference in Valencia in February.
It’s incredible to think how far transplant and cellular therapies have come since 1974. This landmark meeting will be an opportunity to celebrate those achievements and to continue those conversations that spark, develop and facilitate cutting-edge therapies like CAR-T.