SCB Perspectives: Upcoming SCB Initiatives and Events
Executive Director Bob Shaw offers a look at what’s coming next from SCB in 2021.
It has been an exciting quarter for SCB, with the launch of the SCB interactive standards portal and many more new initiatives on the way. The SCB portal is your go-to reference for the most up-to-date information on both published and in development standards. Please take a moment to visit the portal and provide us with feedback. We are committed to continuing to identify new ways to support the regenerative medicine community and accelerate the availability of standards through easy access and availability of information. With that in mind, I wanted to give you a look at what’s coming next from SCB.
SCB Annual Meeting
The SCB annual meeting, coming this fall (week of September 13), will focus on four key areas:
Innovation
Regulatory Updates
Therapeutics
Reference Materials
The SCB annual meeting will bring together members of the community to talk about critical issues related to standards and the growth of the regenerative medicine field. Participants will also learn more about ongoing SCB working groups and other opportunities to become more engaged with standards development.
Standards Implementation Program for Industry
SCB is planning a standards Advisory and Assessment Service program to aid in the implementation of standards for industry. Under this program, SCB will offer industry process mapping/assessments and advisory services to help them understand:
What standards apply to each part of their manufacturing process
Where standards fit in their clinical development process
Quarterly Standards Development Forum
SCB will continue its quarterly Standards Development Forum, which gathers representatives from standards developing organizations (SDOs) and other groups involved in standards development to help them harmonize their work and inform them of standards needs from the community. The SDO forum also provides a means to funnel the most up-to-date information on SDO activities back to the public. Although the Standards Development Forum is not open to the public at this time, the outcomes from the meetings will be publicized so that community members can get involved in standards development by joining standard project working groups and other SCB initiatives.
Opportunities to Participate in Key Working Groups
Two SCB working groups are currently seeking stakeholders to take part in feasibility assessments. SCB’s feasibility assessment process brings together stakeholders from varying groups to identify barriers and opportunities for the development of high-priority standards needs. Participants assess technical feasibility, expert availability, and implementation feasibility, among other factors.
Determining and Interpreting Cell Viability: This group will assess the feasibility of standards for identifying the most appropriate method (e.g., assay) for assessing cell viability within a given therapy or cell type.
Framework for Gene Delivery Methods and Gene Editing Tools: This group will assess the feasibility of standards for selecting appropriate tools and gene delivery methods and establishing best practices for their use.
GET IN TOUCH
With all of these planned initiatives on the way and more to come, we’re excited about what 2021 can offer. If you have any other suggestions or feedback, please contact us.