Cell 2026 Hackathon Format

Autologous cell therapies remain slow, expensive, and operationally complex. Centralised manufacturing creates delays, logistics risk, high cost, and limited patient access.

The aim of this hackathon is to challenge participants to design a realistic point-of-care or near-patient manufacturing model that could be implemented within real-world regulatory, clinical, manufacturing, CMC, and patient-access constraints.

The session is designed to move beyond familiar industry statements such as “we need more automation” or “CMC should be considered earlier.” Instead, each group must produce a practical, defensible solution that addresses what would actually need to change for point-of-care autologous manufacturing to become viable.

Group Hackathon Discussion

Participants work in four pre-selected groups of approximately 10 people.

Each group should discuss and develop:

The proposed point-of-care or near-patient manufacturing model
The manufacturing workflow
The automation requirements
The CMC and quality strategy
The regulatory evidence package
The clinical and patient-access benefit
The biggest risks or blockers
The one change the industry would need to make for this model to work

Each group should appoint a leader to present the proposed solution.

By the end of the session, the audience should leave with a sharper understanding of whether point-of-care autologous manufacturing is a credible future model, what barriers must be overcome, and what practical steps would be needed to move from concept to implementation.

The hackathon should generate a debate-led, actionable output rather than a generic discussion on automation or manufacturing efficiency.

What is Point-of-care autologous manufacturing?

It means making a patient’s own cell therapy at or very near the hospital/clinic where the patient is treated, rather than sending the patient’s cells to a distant central manufacturing facility.

In simple terms:

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