Obsidian Therapeutics Develops and Shares Safe Workplace Productivity Solution in Response to COVID19

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Obsidian Therapeutics, a biotechnology company pioneering controllable cell and gene therapies, today announced it will share the architecture and components of its Safe Workplace Function Tool (SWFT) Productivity Solution. The SWFT Solution was designed in response to the COVID19 pandemic to support a safe work environment while maintaining productivity in the lab.

The SWFT Solution is a web-based application built and integrated into Microsoft 365 that allows scientists to view and schedule lab-based activities including by date, time and lab location. SWFT promotes collaboration and coordination between teams by predicting scheduling and occupancy conflicts, which allows team members to adjust their schedules to promote social distancing in the lab and office.

"The SWFT Solution has enabled Obsidian to continue to generate critical data across our cytoDRiVE™ development programs, while maximizing the safety of our staff," stated Catherine Stehman-Breen, M.D., Chief Research and Development Officer at Obsidian. "We have already shared this technology with large pharmaceutical and small biotechnology companies who are interested in our SWFT Solution to get their labs back up and running. We believe that it is more important than ever before to leverage one another's expertise in order to overcome challenges as we work tirelessly to deliver meaningful outcomes to patients in need."

To create Obsidian's bespoke application, (1) a capacity analysis was conducted, taking into consideration lab space and occupancy levels, and (2) in collaboration with scientists, workflow recommendations were implemented to determine an appropriate shift schedule. These steps facilitated the development of a solution that enabled scientists to plan their experiments with specific lab locations and shifts, as well as be alerted to and prevent any over-capacity issues. Obsidian implemented four three-hour lab blocks, with thirty-minutes of cleaning time between blocks, over a seven-day work week, to ensure that coronavirus-related safety recommendations were met.

Celeste Richardson, Ph.D., Vice President of Cell Therapy of Obsidian, stated, "We have a commitment to our employees to keep the health and safety of our employees top of mind while they work to bring innovative therapies to patients. The development of the SWFT Solution perfectly demonstrates Obsidian's culture of teamwork, determination and innovation."

Obsidian's IT Partner, TRNDigital, is continuing to iterate the tool to ensure it continues to meet scientists' needs and can be made available to others. The solution has been expanded to include density planning in the Obsidian offices. In addition, the SWFT Solution is scalable and flexible to other laboratory setups.

The SWFT solution was developed in-house by Henry Rogalin, Data Scientist, under the leadership of Nic Betts, Head of IT and Facilities, and in collaboration with a safety and facilities capacity team led by Jillian Giguere, Senior Manager of Laboratory Operations, Facilities, and EHS. For more information on SWFT, submit this inquiry form. Informational sessions and training will be hosted as requested.

About Obsidian Therapeutics
Obsidian Therapeutics is a biotechnology company pioneering controllable cell and gene therapies to deliver transformative outcomes for patients with intractable diseases. Obsidian's proprietary cytoDRiVE™ technology provides a way to control protein degradation using FDA-approved small molecules, permitting precise control of the timing and level of protein expression. The cytoDRiVE™ platform can be applied to design controllable intracellular, membrane and secreted proteins for cell and gene therapies as well as other applications. The Company's initial applications focus on developing novel cell therapies for the treatment of cancer. Obsidian is headquartered in Cambridge, Mass. For more information, please visit www.obsidiantx.com.

Media Contact:
Maggie Beller
Russo Partners, LLC
[email protected]
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SOURCE Obsidian Therapeutics