Cell Therapy Laboratory Unit
Expertise and services
The Cell Therapy Laboratory Unit, led by Kristina Folvik, provides specialised laboratory and patient-related services for routine cell therapy at Oslo University Hospital and is an essential part of the hospital’s transplantation infrastructure. All staff are biomedical laboratory scientists with combined expertise in patient care, laboratory processing, aseptic technique and work in GMP-classified facilities.
The team has specialist competence in apheresis and bone-marrow collection, cell processing, quality control, cryopreservation, storage, distribution and infusion of cell therapy products. A particularly important responsibility is the collection and quality-assured handling of starting material for commercial CAR-T products, connecting Norwegian patients with authorised manufacturers. The Unit works closely with clinical departments, academic groups and commercial partners.
The Unit’s services include:
- peripheral blood stem-cell collection for autologous and allogeneic transplantation;
- bone-marrow collection;
- leukapheresis and collection of T-cell starting material for commercial CAR-T manufacturing and investigational ATMPs;
- donor lymphocyte collection and processing;
- cell processing, including depletion, enrichment and volume reduction;
- quality control, including cell counting, microbiological testing, colony-forming assays and flow cytometry;
- cryopreservation and long-term cryogenic storage;
- quality-assured labelling, documentation, packaging, distribution and infusion of cell therapy products; and
- coordination with clinical departments, processing laboratories and external manufacturers.
Location and capacity
The Unit is located on the first floor of the Research Building at Radiumhospitalet. Its dedicated apheresis room is an integrated part of the Department for Cell Therapy and contains four patient collection stations with associated treatment equipment. The area also includes a connected office, patient toilet and nearby administrative, meeting and storage facilities. Laboratory processing is performed in the Department’s GMP facilities, which include seven Grade B ex vivo rooms, a general production room, a dedicated Grade B BSL-2 laboratory, Grade D QC areas and classified cryogenic storage.
Main equipment
Much of the Department’s core laboratory equipment is shared across its units. Staff collaborate on equipment ownership, routine operation and daily and periodic maintenance. Principal equipment used by or available to the Unit includes:
- four Spectra Optia apheresis systems;
- Spectratherm and AstoTherm blood-warming systems, infusion pumps, patient collection chairs and weighing equipment;
- BD FACSLyric flow cytometer and haematology analyser;
- Sepax C-Pro and Sepax 2 cell-processing systems;
- CTS Rotea and CliniMACS Prodigy cell-processing platforms;
- controlled-rate freezing systems and cryogenic shippers;
- biological safety and laminar-airflow cabinets, CO₂ incubators, centrifuges and microscopes; and
- monitored refrigerators, freezers, scales, tube sealers and welders, and supporting transport and storage equipment.