The McGill Advanced Therapies Research and Education Centre (MATREC), recently approved as a core platform on campus, will serve as a facility for training learners and de-risking potential advanced therapies.
The McGill Regenerative Medicine (MRM) Network is pleased to announce the inauguration of a new facility for training and research related to the generation of advanced therapeutic products (ATPs), as well as a partnership with the Canadian Advanced Therapies Training Institute (CATTI).
Recently approved as a core platform, the McGill Advanced Therapies Research and Education Centre (MATREC) will use an existing cleanroom at the McGill Genome Centre to facilitate the development of skills required to work under current good manufacturing practices (cGMP). As part of its mission, MATREC will provide training, expertise and space for developing ATPs to students, staff and researchers.
ATPs include innovative and potentially life-changing treatments for cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other health conditions.
“Cleanrooms like MATREC are critical for the production of modern, advanced therapeutics,” says Prof. Terry Hébert, Director of the MRM Network.
“MATREC serves an unmet research need and an unmet educational need, which is to provide a space where these therapies can be developed and tested, and where people can learn how to work in these spaces,” he adds.
The facilities that MATREC now occupies were previously used by the Islet Transplantation Program at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC). Led by Steven Paraskevas, MD, PhD, the program generated islet preparations from cadaveric organ donors for the treatment of type 1 diabetes.
When that program moved to the MUHC, the MRM Network recognized the unparalleled opportunity to repurpose the unique space as a hub for research projects and training opportunities.
Learning to work in exacting conditions
MATREC spans a total area of 204m2 and includes a Grade C/ISO-7 cleanroom, three Grade D/ISO-8 access rooms, and a declassified CL2 (BSL-2) laboratory for quality control.
As a fully functional cleanroom facility, MATREC offers an ideal environment for participants to gain the skills needed to develop ATPs – drugs, devices, cells and combinations thereof that are at the forefront of regenerative medicine – and for research teams to develop their processes in a manner that is amenable to cleanroom manufacturing for clinical production.
ATPs include cell and gene therapies such as CAR-T cells, engineered human tissues and other biologics that require specialized handling during development, production and distribution. These complex therapies must be developed in the aseptic conditions of a Grade B/ISO-6 or Grade C/ISO-7 cleanroom, where factors like air filtration, cleanliness and movements are strictly controlled to avoid compromising a product.
CATTI has worked with the MRM Network during the summer of 2024 to deliver a very successful pilot workshop for trainees at MATREC. “There is a massive difference between working in cleanrooms versus traditional labs,” explains Craig Hasilo, Chief Scientific Officer for CATTI. “It is comparable to travelling on a commercial flight and being an astronaut on the International Space Station. A facility like MATREC will bring tremendous value for training the next generation of therapeutic developers. CATTI is eager to collaborate with the MRM Network to deliver that training.”
Corinne Hoesli, PhD, Canada Research Chair in Cellular Therapy Bioprocess Engineering and Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering, attended a workshop at MATREC with four students from her lab this summer.
“I have attended conferences with leaders in the field, but I never got this practical or real-life experience of what [working in a cleanroom] means,” she says.
Since many cleanrooms are used in clinical and biomanufacturing settings, training at MATREC gives participants an opportunity to gain hands-on experience without delaying or posing safety risks to ATP development, she adds.
Hub for multiple research projects
Aside from providing a space for invaluable training opportunities, MATREC will also be an ideal space for research labs to de-risk and test ATPs within a functional cGMP cleanroom environment.
Prof. Hoesli and her lab are currently using the facility for stem cell culture for diabetes therapy.
Meanwhile, Darcy Wagner, PhD, Canada Research Excellence Chair in Lung Regenerative Medicine and Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Biomedical Engineering, intends to move her research in lung regenerative medicine to MATREC in February 2025.
Prof. Wagner says it is “critical” to have a space to learn how to work in a cleanroom and conduct de-risking procedures before bringing their ATPs into an industry or hospital setting.
“People are really excited [about ATPs] and want them to move fast, but we need time, dedicated spaces and resources to do this correctly and ensure the safest therapies go to patients,” she explains.
Both professors agree that MATREC can be a hub for researchers in the field, allowing teams to break down silos and share knowledge.
A rare jewel
Looking ahead, the MRM Network is planning more workshops for trainees and researchers at MATREC this academic year. The Network also hopes to build partnerships with industry, who may wish to plan out their therapeutic strategies at MATREC before beginning testing in a hospital or biomanufacturing cleanroom.
For Prof. Hébert, the new core facility is “a rare jewel” for education and research in an ever-growing field.
“It’s tremendous we now have an opportunity to preserve the space and expand its mission,” says Prof. Hébert. “There is no other such place that could be used for research, de-risking and educational purposes.”
For more information about MATREC, please visit the MRM Network website.
