In the 1979 retro-futuristic sci-fi horror film “Alien” — and now the ongoing series “Alien: Earth” — human characters partake in “cryosleep” to preserve their bodies during lengthy interplanetary travel. The fictional plot device is, at least for now, a stretch of the imagination. But like any good science fiction trope, it’s based in reality.

Cryobiology, and more particularly cryopreservation, is used to keep human cells and tissues viable during many biopharma manufacturing processes. And advances in cryopreservation could play a major role in overcoming difficult challenges in cell therapy. Autologous cell therapies are struggling in the market amid manufacturing bottlenecks, and their allogeneic counterparts have been slow to take off due to efficacy concerns, but making frozen storage more logistically feasible could help overcome these obstacles.

Today, we’re featuring a conversation with a leader in the cryobiology field about where the cell therapy space is headed to offer more patients affordable access, and what role advances in frozen storage are playing in that evolution.

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