Sean O'Farrell, Ph.D.

Sean joined Dark Horse Consulting in 2021, after working in both Research & Development and Process Development teams at GammaDelta Therapeutics. His primary areas of expertise include immunobiology, bridging cell therapy production processes from research to CMC, and nonclinical development of cell and gene therapies.

Sean has supported DHC clients on a range of projects areas including nonclinical study design and oversight, comparability strategy, process and analytical development. He has furthermore provided expertise to a number of investment firms during the due diligence process of promising cell and gene therapy assets.

Sean’s immunobiology career began in the laboratory of Professor Adrian Hayday, where he undertook his Ph.D. and post-doctoral training. During this time, his primary focus was on understanding the immunological mechanism of action of adjuvanted influenza vaccination using both clinical and pre-clinical models.

He joined GammaDelta Therapeutics in 2018, where his primary role was to aid the development of a GMP-friendly bioprocesses for a series of γδ T cell drug product candidates. To do so, Sean led efforts utilizing design of experiment (DoE) approaches to safeguard product yield and quality. In his role within the Research & Development team, he acted as the primary bridge between R&D and CMC, where he led efforts to ensure process reproducibility and simplification prior to IND-enabling CMC work and tech transfer.

Sean also brings experience in training staff on end-to-end cell therapy production processes, DoE design, execution and analysis, and scientific presentation. In addition to his experience in cell therapy process research and development, Sean has expertise in assay development and nonclinical strategy.

• Applied DoE approaches via JMP to improve process yield and quality.
• Successfully led activities to bridge multiple cell therapy processes from R&D to CMC.
• Authored master batch records for tech transfer to CMOs.
• Provided on-site training for CMO manufacturing staff to execute cell production processes.
• Lead efforts for small scale, semi-automated DoE approaches to improve cell production process understanding.

• O’Farrell S (2022) Harnessing the power of design of experiments for cell therapy research & process development. Cell & Gene Therapy Insights 2022; 8(11), 1487–1495; DOI: 10.18609/cgti.2022.217. https://www.insights.bio/
• O’Farrell S: γδ T-cell therapy: devising a manufacturing-friendly bioprocess. Cell and Gene Therapy Insights, 2020.
• Sobolev O, Binda E, O’Farrell S, et al: Adjuvanted influenza-H1N1 vaccination reveals lymphoid signatures of age-dependent early responses and of clinical adverse events. Nature Immunology, 2016.
• O’Farrell S, Garmo H, Holmberg L, et al: Risk and timing of cardiovascular disease after androgen-deprivation therapy in men with prostate cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2015.
• O’Farrell S, Sandström K, Garmo H et al: Risk of thromboembolic disease in men with prostate cancer undergoing androgen deprivation therapy. BJU International, 2015.

Gammadelta Therapeutics Limited, London, UK
Senior Scientist, Research & Development
Senior Scientist, Process Development & Manufacturing
Scientist, Process Development & Manufacturing

King’s College London & The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK
Postdoctoral Research Associate

Kings College London, UK
Ph.D. in Immunology

Kings College London, UK
MRes in Translational Medicine

University College Dublin, Ireland
B.Sc. (Hons) in Pharmacology