Phacilitate: Cell & gene industry flocks to Miami

The cell and gene therapy industry congregated in Miami to discuss supply chain strategies, regulatory rationale and the high manufacturing costs of advanced therapies.

BioProcess Insider attended the Phacilitate Leaders World Summit, co-located with the World Stem Cell Summit, in Miami, Florida last week.

The conference reflected on the first full year where three advanced therapies – Kymriah, Yescarta, and Luxturna – proved themselves on the commercial stage, heralding in a new frontier for regenerative medicines.

But industry quickly rose above patting itself on its proverbial back and turned its focus on how to make these therapies, touted as some to become a bigger sector than biologics, effectively and affordably. Reducing COGS, overcoming scale-up issues and readdressing reimbursement programs may be holding up progress in the space, but optimism for the future was high as end-users, CDMOs and vendors look to address these issues.

But many talks focused on the patients themselves, not least the moving fireside chat with the father of Emily Whitehead who became the first pediatric patient to be treated with a T-cell therapy and paved the way for Kymriah’s arrival on the market.

Oh, and the FDA was present, albeit remotely thanks to a certain ongoing ‘wall’ issue, just to keep a regulatory eye on the proceedings.

If you missed it, check out what some of the delegates said: