Blueprint for Breakthroughs is a LinkedIn newsletter published by Adrienne B. Mendoza, MHA, SVP BioBridge Global and Chief Operating Officer (COO), BBG Advanced Therapies
Originally published on LinkedIn on May 6, 2025
Behind The Road Ahead: Designing a Mobile Leukapheresis Center
Over the past six months, the team at BBG Advanced Therapies has worked to design and deliver the world’s first mobile leukapheresis center: a self-contained, GxP-ready platform that brings the critical starting point of cell therapies—immune cell collection—directly into the communities where patients and donors live. This week and next, we’re proud to showcase this platform to colleagues and collaborators at ISCT, International Society for Cell & Gene Therapy and American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy in New Orleans.
This mobile center is a solution to a systemic challenge. We built it to help advanced therapies scale out, not just scale up—a theme we recently explored in AABB News in the article, Unlocking Biotherapy Access: Solving the Upstream Bottleneck in Cell Collection.
Why this, why now?
It began with a few questions:
- Could we bring leukapheresis—often the first step in cell and gene therapy—closer to donors and patients?
- Could we support with an infrastructure that ensures quality, reduces variability, and equips skilled staff with the right tools. One that could have the flexibility to reach across 65,000 square miles and serve a region of over 5 million people?
From the outset, we knew we’d be challenging conventional thinking. But with our origins as South Texas Blood & Tissue, we’ve done pioneering work before for more than 50 years-operating mobile drives for decades and launching programs like Heroes in Arms, which redefined how blood is delivered in emergencies by making blood available to first responders in ambulances and medical helicopters. It became so important for our region that we even build a helipad to support access to those lifesaving products in urgent mass casualties. That is the legacy and experience that gave us confidence.
What shaped the idea? Listening.
This solution came from listening:
- To patients who traveled hours for care—for months away from family and support systems.
- To clinical trial sponsors struggling to enroll diverse populations.
- To local providers who wanted to do more but didn’t have the infrastructure.
And it came from recognizing that limited capacity often disguises demand.
Without infrastructure, patients are referred away – or not referred to these treatments at all. Without patients, providers don’t gain experience. And without experience, investment lags and treatment options narrow. So we focused on the part we could build: the first step in the access platform.
The Timing Was Right. The Need is Real.
With the opening of UT Health San Antonio’s Multispecialty & Research Hospital—a vision championed by the late Dr. William Henrich, our region has made significant strides toward a future with great access to innovative medicine. Even as San Antonio becomes a greater access point, about one-third of patients come from four or more hours away. And nationally, fewer than 40% of eligible patients receive CAR T-cell therapy if they live more than two hours from an infusion center.
As a cryopreservation and leukapheresis hub for Texas and neighboring states, we see the data firsthand: patient cells arriving from far-off cities, while local patients still face barriers.
Drafting The Blueprint for What’s Next
The team at BBG Advanced Therapies performs donor and patient cell collections, cryopreservation, manufacturing, and full analytical testing. With this new platform, those capabilities can be extended further into the field—supporting vein-to-vein with decentralized collection tied to our in-region state-of-the-art GMP biomanufacturing facility, and full characterization, potency and safety testing – we can help bring the full manufacturing lifecycle for the therapy, closer to care.
In other words: By reducing the logistical burden on patients, donors, and cells themselves, we don’t just preserve quality—we expand access. This platform could offer a replicable model for how regions around the world can build capacity, accelerate time to treatment, and increase equity in advanced therapy delivery.
With support from the BioBridge Global Board of Directors and a passionate, mission-driven team, we moved with urgency, purpose, and precision—because this work can’t wait.
The Design Process
We found and partnered with TESCO Specialty Vehicles, an industry leader in mobile medical unit design, to co-create a platform purpose-built for advanced cell collection.
Together, with the team at TESCO, we studied what worked in mobile dental and medical units, as well as our own experience with Platelet-On-The-Go bloodmobiles. Then we adapted, expanded, and reimagined it all for leukapheresis.
Together, we engineered the Mobile Leukapheresis Center to include key attributes, including for example:
- Heavy-duty stabilizing jacks and shock-absorbing suspension to keep equipment secure and safe.
- Redundant climate control, including powerful AC units, onboard generators, and shore-power compatibility.
- Satellite internet with backup connections for secure, real-time connectivity.
- Wireless monitoring to ensure the protection of temperature-sensitive materials and environments.
- A wheelchair-accessible lift ramp, doubling as secure egress for heavy on-board equipment.
- A dedicated onboard lab space ready for point-of-use evaluation and future capability expansion.
- Comfort features, including privacy curtains, integrated onboard lavatory, reclining chairs, and a flatscreen TV for entertainment.
The design process was just as rigorous as building a brick-and-mortar facility, if not more so. We had to account for the unique constraints of a fully portable, self-contained environment without compromising quality or control. From detailed sketches to digital floorplans, HVAC modeling to structural integration, every element was carefully engineered to withstand the demands of South Texas’ climate and to support the complex, evolving needs of advanced therapy collection now and into the future.
The People Who Brought It to Life
This project came to life because of the dedication of a remarkable team.
Naomi Herrera, who leads our Apheresis Center, and her expert team were hands-on throughout, ensuring every element reflected the needs of patients, donors, and clinical staff. From space layout to procedural flow, their input shaped the design from the inside out.
Vivienne Marshall, PhD and James Johnson carried the vision forward at every stage, from early concept to vendor engagement to build oversight – ensuring operational, clinical, and quality considerations were front and center. Their expertise, along with our Global Quality team members like Erin Butler, BS, CTBS, helped align cross-functional teams and keep momentum strong.
Jeff Moore, who leads our fleet program, worked closely along with his team, and with Sean McMahon at TESCO, lending deep expertise on power, performance, and road-readiness. Their collaboration ensured every component was both functional and durable—built for the long haul.
A Platform with Purpose
A commemorative plaque aboard the unit captures its meaning:
This mobile center carries the resilience, vibrance, and dreams of our community…Here, immune cells begin their journey — to fight, to heal, and to bring hope home…Dedicated to those we lost before the future could reach them.Their memory lights the way forward, inspiring every step we take…This is a tribute, a model, and a commitment to advancing care, access, and possibility — for our region and beyond…Dedicated this day, April 24, 2025
What It Can Do
This platform is built to support the following today, and more tomorrow:
- Leukapheresis for patients in clinical trials or receiving FDA-approved commercial CGT therapies, without traveling to distant medical centers.
- Healthy donor collections for allogeneic products, including leukopaks used as starting material for allogeneic CAR T-cell therapies, or as raw material used in cell processing and proliferation, such as in feeder layers in TIL manufacturing.
- A GTP, GCP and GMP-compatible, Accreditation-ready environment that can be integrated into sponsor quality systems for decentralized clinical trials and commercial cell therapy workflows.
- A vibrant, bilingual exterior design to engage the community, promote awareness, and provide educational access about cell and gene therapies, across diverse populations and contributors.
It’s not just a bus. It’s a blueprint. It’s also a bridge between science and service. A signal that access isn’t something we solve last. Rather, it’s something we build for first.
See It for Yourself. Shape What’s Next.
We’re proud to debut this mobile leukapheresis center at ISCT and ASGCT in New Orleans.
We’d love to connect. Come tour the unit in the exhibit hall, meet the team, and see how this platform can support your mission and goals – from scaling out your donor or patient access model, to clinical trial support and commercial therapy delivery.
You can also see our dedicated page on the Mobile Leukapheresis Center, including FAQs. Visit Our Dedicated Center Page for more information, and feel free to reach out to me any time!
