249: How T Cell Activation Redefines TIL and CAR-T Manufacturing (Boosting Success Rates to 95%) with Chantale Bernatchez - Part 1

249: How T Cell Activation Redefines TIL and CAR-T Manufacturing (Boosting Success Rates to 95%) with Chantale Bernatchez - Part 1

From Smart Biotech Scientist | The CMC and Bioprocessing Podcast for Process Development and Manufacturing Leaders by David Brühlmann - CMC Development Leader, Bioprocess Expert, Business Strategist

May 5, 2026 · 29 min · Episode 249

About this episode

Chantale Bernatchez discusses the critical role of patient variability in cell therapy manufacturing and its impact on success rates.

The most underappreciated parameter in cell therapy process development is not your bioreactor, your media, or your activation protocol. It is the patient. Chantale Bernatchez has spent 20 years learning that lesson the hard way, watching the same manufacturing process succeed brilliantly with one donor and fail completely with the next. In this episode, she explains why starting material variability is the defining challenge of cell therapy manufacturing, and what it actually takes to build ...

People in this episode

Host: David Brühlmann

Guest: Chantale Bernatchez

Topics covered

  • T Cell Activation
  • TIL Manufacturing
  • CAR-T Manufacturing
  • Cell Therapy
  • Patient Variability

Keywords

  • T Cell Activation
  • TIL
  • CAR-T
  • cell therapy
  • manufacturing process
  • patient variability
  • success rates

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