World Advanced Therapies & Regenerative Medicine Congress 2019: editor’s picks

Written by Freya Leask
Opinion Upcoming & past events

Here are my tips for what talks and events are not to miss from this year’s WATRMC agenda.

What is the World Advanced Therapies & Regenerative Medicine Congress 2019?

The World Advanced Therapies & Regenerative Medicine (WATRMC) Congress 2019 is an annual meeting welcoming over 1000 attendees and 300 speakers, and covers gene therapy, cell therapy, gene editing, stem cells and regenerative medicine. The congress will take place at the Business Design Center (London, UK), 15—17 May, and is the 14th edition of the meeting.

What should I look out for?

The WATRMC is a commercially-focused meeting, so expect insight from industry experts into current pain points and future direction. I’m hoping for an insider perspective on current efforts towards bringing advanced therapies to the clinic, particularly on future-proofing the manufacturing and supply chain.   

  • The EBMR (electronic batch manufacturing record)— product quality in a black box (Wednesday, May 15, 3pm): Mark Lowdell, Director Of Cellular Therapy, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust (London, UK) will discuss the importance of monitoring delivery, quality control and traceability, and how the next-generation of software can support manufacturers.
  • Cell Therapy and Cell—Gene Bio-Manufacturing: A SWOT Analysis of CDMO Market Demand and Future Capacity (Thursday, May 16, 3:45pm): Jane Andrews, Senior Director Of Strategic Marketing, BioBridge Global (TX, USA), will comprehensively cover current industry strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and share her thoughts on future market trends.
  • Building a ‘smart city’ for cell and gene (Friday, May 17, 11:45am): Jim Kovach, Director, Innovation (CA, USA), discusses his experiences in facilitating innovation, from concept and design, and building a patient-facing, GMP-ready space.

Gene editing in cell therapy, particularly CAR-T, features heavily on this year’s agenda. Are gene-edited cell therapies the future? I’m hoping I’ll know more about these talks!

  • How the allogeneic approach will make cell therapies accessible for more patients through gene editing (Thursday, May 16, 2:55pm): André Choulika, CEO, Cellectis SA (France), leads this afternoon session.
  • Translating in vivo genome editing capabilities into therapeutics (Thursday, May 16, 4:05pm): Derek Jantz, Co-Founder and CSO, Precision Biosciences (NC, USA), shares insights into optimizing your delivery system and evaluating disease models for the best results.
  • CAR-T Immunotherapy — Opportunities and Challenges (Friday, May 17, 9:40am): Stephan Grupp, Chief, Cellular Therapy and Transplant Section, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (PA, USA), presents a keynote on the role CAR-T therapies can play in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and current challenges to overcome, which include cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and understanding T cell proliferation and persistence.

Read the full agenda here>>

How can I meet the RegMedNet and Regenerative Medicine team?

I will be present at World Advanced Therapies & Regenerative Medicine Congress 2019 and I’d love to meet as many members and authors as possible. Email me or stop by the Innovation Zone to meet me, discuss potential manuscripts, share your ideas for what you’d like to see on RegMedNet as well as pick up your hard copy of the latest Glossary for Cell & Gene Therapy and Regenerative Medicine!