Ashish Saksule

Associate Director, Cell and Gene Therapy at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Speaker

Ashish Saksule is an accomplished Cell and Gene Therapy process development expert, specializing in the bioprocessing of viral vectors. With over 10 years of experience, he has worked across various domains, including academic research, clinical stage vaccine development, and process optimization for cell and gene therapies. His expertise spans both upstream and downstream processing for viral vectors, including Lentiviruses, AAV, live viruses, and proteins. Ashish holds a Biotechnology degree from Harvard University and a Chemical Engineering degree from Michigan Technological University. Currently, he serves as a Principal Scientist and Core Lead at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, where he oversees the Vector Core facility and the Cell Therapy Core facility. Prior to this, Ashish contributed to the Rare Disease Gene Therapy program at Takeda and worked at MilliporeSigma on Virus and Gene Therapy process development for AAV and LV. His passion lies in developing cutting-edge bioprocessing tools for Cell and Gene Therapy, with the goal of making these life-changing treatments more accessible and affordable for all patients.