TrakCel and AmerisourceBergen expand platform integration to facilitate patient care coordination for cell and gene therapies

TrakCel and AmerisourceBergen expand platform integration to facilitate patient care coordination for cell and gene therapies

Orchestration platform integration to prepare for post-commercialization delivery of cell and gene therapies to patients

Cardiff, UK, January 19, 2023 – TrakCel, the leading supplier of cellular orchestration solutions for clinical trials and commercial therapies to the cell and gene therapy (CGT) industry, and AmerisourceBergen, a global healthcare company, have expanded their platform integration capabilities to provide physicians and patient services teams more complete visibility across the treatment development and patient journey, enabling seamless care coordination and timely patient engagement.

TrakCel in 2022 completed the first phase of integrating its next-generational cellular orchestration platform, OCELLOS, with AmerisourceBergen’s Fusion, a customer relationship management and patient support ecosystem. The initial integration, which included AmerisourceBergen’s enhanced electronic benefit verification (eBV) powered by machine learning, allowed physicians to receive a near real-time response on a patient’s coverage determination after creating a patient account and entering enrolment information—all within a single portal experience. The newest features will provide physicians and case managers with significantly more insight into the progression of the treatment – from the cell order submission and sample collection to manufacturing and transportation of the final product. The enhanced integration will be available with the OCELLOS 4.0.

“The ongoing commercialization of cell and gene therapies is happening today, not tomorrow. As a result, it is critical that patients and the patient experience is not just brought into TrakCel’s orchestration solutions but placed at the center. Technological development has outpaced the ability to supply these therapies to patients, and the integration between the solutions from TrakCel and AmerisourceBergen will provide solutions to many of these issues,” said Ravi Nalliah, Chief Product and Strategy Officer, TrakCel. “This integration will ensure that all those involved in the supply and value chains of cell and gene therapies will be able to be kept up to the minute about the progression of a therapy as well as reimbursement and benefit eligibility, allowing them to schedule treatments and appointments more effectively and sympathetically and keep patients better informed. TrakCel has continued to develop OCELLOS and add functionality as the sector evolves and this process will be continued to enable the sector to affect patient’s lives.”

The treatment journey for patients who require CGT products is complex as it involves precise coordination across the patient journey and manufacturing process—from scheduling a cell collection date and delivering the sample to the manufacturer to scheduling an infusion date timed to when the treatment is scheduled to arrive at the site. The TrakCel and AmerisourceBergen integration is designed to facilitate heightened care coordination across the patient journey to provide an enhanced patient and caregiver experience. 

Case managers on the patient services team will have access to a real-time flow of information on the patient schedule and therapy status, enabling them to share timely updates with patients. Status changes, such as a new delayed arrival date, will trigger alerts. Support teams can then proactively reach out to patients and caregivers, if necessary, to inform them of any treatment changes.

“While we have seen tremendous growth across the CGT sector, including the approval of novel therapies, the path to treatment access is complex and lined with potential barriers,” said Dale Hanna, Director of Cell and Gene Therapy Solutions at AmerisourceBergen. “Whether it’s introducing new solutions or collaborating with partners across the supply chain, we are focused on reducing the challenges across the commercialization and treatment journey to help developers launch products and ensure patients can access the therapies they need. Through this collaboration with TrakCel, we are able to improve speed-to-therapy and simplify the care coordination process to help deliver an enhanced patient and provider experience.”

The Data Exchange Interface that OCELLOS uses has been enhanced to achieve this greater of level of data sharing in OCELLOS 4.0 and this will also benefit other types of integration with supply chain partners of various types from couriers to CMOs as well as the therapy developer’s own in-house systems. The improved interface will allow OCELLOS to send and receive more detailed data from a greater range of third-party software platforms, applications and portals.

TrakCel launched OCELLOS in 2021 as a significant market advancement against less flexible traditionally coded orchestration solutions. TrakCel has designed OCELLOS for the cell and gene therapy sector as a Software-as-a-Service platform with a modular build. This accommodates the need for processes to change, or functionality to be added easily in order to meet supply chain changes as therapies mature. The OCELLOS platform has moved TrakCel away from custom-written code which took more time to alter, develop and maintain, and delivered the flexibility demanded by the CGT sector.