Rare Event Analysis in Flow Cytometry: Design Control and Validation Aligned with CLSI H62

Rare event analysis by flow cytometry is relatively common in research settings, in clinical laboratories and during drug discovery and development. For example, in research and drug discovery environments, the measurement of intracellular cytokines and intracellular signaling events (i.e., protein phosphorylation) are some of the more common rare event assays. Whereas in clinical laboratories, assays for rare events often include the measurement of CD34⁺ hematopoietic stem cells, paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) and minimal residual disease (MRD) of blood cancers. During drug development and clinical trial evaluation of new therapeutic modalities, rare event methods might also include the monitoring of CAR cellular therapies and the efficacy of cell-depleting therapies.

Flow cytometry is considered an ideal technology for the detection of rare populations of cells. Not only can multiple characteristics on individual cells be measured, but also a large number of cells can be evaluated in a relatively short amount of time. However, as the technology moves out of research and non-regulated settings into clinical laboratories and the regulated phases of preclinical and clinical drug development, concerns related to how to develop, validate and implement robust assays for rare event measurements arise.

This webinar will address those concerns by introducing the concept Design Control and how its application can facilitate assay development and validation. Design Control is a structured process which is applied to the conduct of product development activities. While Design Control is mandatory in regulated industries, it can be easily adopted in non-regulated settings to increase successful outcomes.

Register today and learn about rare event analysis in flow cytometry using design control and validation approaches aligned with CLSI H62.

Speaker

Virginia Litwin, PhD, Director of Scientific Affairs, Eurofins BioPharma Services

Virginia Litwin is a thought-leader in validation and standardization for flow cytometry. Bringing “Cytometry from Bench-to-Bedside” has been the focus of her professional activities since 1999 when she started working in translational medicine at Bristol-Myers Squibb.

She co-founded the Flow Cytometry Community within the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS). This group published the first papers on flow cytometry method and instrument validation. She was a councilor for the International Society for the Advancement of Cytometry (ISAC) and the International Clinical Cytometry Society (ICCS). She serves on the ICCS Advocacy Committee whose mission is to interface with regulatory agencies and has been an invited speaker at FDA/NIST on many occasions.

Virginia is the Chair of the Document Development Committee for the guidance document, CLSI H62- The Validation of Assays Performed by Flow Cytometry. She edited the book, Flow Cytometry in Drug Discovery and Development, as well as journal special issues: Journal of Immunological Methods – Flow Cytometry Biomarkers and Translational Medicine (2011); Cytometry Part B: Clinical Cytometry – Receptor Occupancy (2015) and Cytometry Advancing Next Generation Drug Development (2021).

After obtaining a PhD in virology/immunology from the University of Iowa, Virginia joined Lewis Lanier at DNAX as a postdoctoral fellow where she identified the KIR receptor, KIR3DL1 (CD158E1). She has held leadership roles in several contract research organizations. Currently she is Scientific Affairs Director at Eurofins BioPharma Services.

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