Sean O'Farrell, Ph.D.

Sean joined Dark Horse Consulting in 2021, after 3.5 years of working in both Research & Development and Process Development teams at GammaDelta Therapeutics. His primary area of expertise includes bridging cell therapy processes from research to CMC, with a focus on the use of DoE and subsequent validation runs.

Sean’s immunology 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 immune mechanism of action of adjuvanted influenza vaccination using both clinical and pre-clinical models.

He joined GammaDelta Therpeutics in 2018, where he began to work in the process development and manufacturing team. To aid the development of a GMP-friendly bioprocesses for γδ T-cells, Sean played a key role in designing and deploying DoE approaches to safeguard product yield and quality. In his most recent 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 the commencement of CMC work and CMO tech transfer. Sean also brings experience in training staff on end-to-end cell therapy processes, DoE design and execution, and scientific presentation.

In addition to his experience in cell therapy process research and development, Sean has experience in assay development and pre-clinical strategy development as well as providing strategic and operational leadership for a wide range of client engagements.