Agenda March 17, 2027: Main Conference Day One - PT (Pacific Time, GMT-08:00)
- Margaret Lai - Principal Scientist I, Novartis
- Thomas Jacobsen, Ph.D. - GMP Scientist/Lead,, Duke Human Vaccine Institute
- Lianchun Fan, Ph D. - Research Fellow, Head of Cellular & Molecular Biology Science, Biologics Development Launch, Abbvie Bioresearch Center
- Media and feed composition play a significant role in shaping CHO cell growth and productivity
- Optimizing nutrient supply can improve productivity without compromising product quality
- Cross-project and cross-scale learnings enabled informed nutrient management strategies and reduced reliance on empirical optimization
- Meghana Teli - Senior Research Scientist, Incyte Corporation
- Kyle McElearney - Director, Amgen
- Xiaolu Chen, M.D. - Associate Scientist IV, Alexion AstraZeneca Rare Disease
- Combination of automation and mechanistic modeling enables efficient acceleration of purification (even for challenging molecules)
- Mechanistic modeling facilitates transfer between non-clonal and clonal cell lines as well as tech transfer to pilot or manufacturing-scale
- Nanofiltration conditions can be optimally screened using automated DLS to enable challenging filtration, such as for hydrophobic molecules
- Scott Altern, Ph.D. - Senior Scientist II, AbbVie
- Divina Anunciado, Ph.D. - Principal Scientist, Pfizer
- Intensified Harvest and Salt-Tolerant Capture Strategies
- Employing targeted analytics to track, identify, and quantify problematic host cell proteins across challenging purification stages.
- Predictive In-Silico and Mechanistic Modeling
- Kabir Dhingra, Ph.D. - Senior Scientist, Merck
- Joseph Shultz - Vice President, Technical Development, Ottimo Pharma
- Shyam Panjwani - Senior Principal CMC Data Scientist, Bayer
- Deepti Tyagi - MSAT, Amgen
- Richard Braatz, Ph.D. - Edwin R. Gilliland Professor, Faculty Research Officer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Andy Lin, Ph.D. - Vice President, Global Head of Individualized and Cell Therapy Development, Genentech Inc.
- Jason Dowd, Ph.D., MBA - Global Lead Cell Therapy Platform, Bayer
- Saurabh Sen, Ph.D. - Director, Cell Line Development, Global CMC, Sanofi
- Geneva Alok, Ph.D. - Principal Scientist, Process Development, Amgen
- Anna Peterson - Scientist I, Alexion
- Nuno Carinhas, Ph.D. - Fellow, Upstream Process Development, Novartis
- Angela Yu - Associate Director, Vaccine/Early Process Development, Pfizer
- The high-throughput VRF platform supports rapid evaluation of filtration performance across a broad range of process parameters, including feed stream pH, excipient concentrations, and protein concentration
- High-throughput approach can reduce both time and resources required to develop VRF
- The high-throughput VRF platform can be readily implemented to identify relevant design space for process optimization and for assessing the suitability of biologics candidates for platform purification processes.
- Emma Cooper - Process Development Engineer, Regeneron
- Jara Lin, Ph.D. - Executive Director, BeOne Medicines
- Daniel Burke - Senior Scientist, Merck
- Lev Starikov, Ph.D. - Associate Director, Process Development, BlueRock Therapeutics
- Andres Soohoo - Engineer II, Process Development, Astellas Gene Therapies
- Lina Chakrabarti, Ph.D. - Principal Scientist, BioPharmaceutical Development, Astrazeneca
- Santosh Paidi - Technical Development Principal Scientist, Genentech
- Poorvaja Ganesan - Associate Scientist 3, Alexion
- Matthew Radle - Senior Scientist, Analytical Sciences – Physicochemical Development, AstraZeneca
- Vida Rahmatnejad, Ph.D. - Upstream Development Scientist, Alexion
- Juan Zou - Downstream Process Development Scientist II, Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease
- Anthony Chikere - Director, Vector Process Development, Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc.
- Aishy Murali - Process Development Engineer II, Downstream, Astellas Gene Therapies
- Paul Rousseau - Sr. Engineer II, Cell Line Development, Biogen
This forward-looking panel will separate meaningful next steps from hype. This panel will focus on the technologies and workflow changes most likely to materially change CLD over the next five years, including automation, richer analytics, predictive tools, and better data integration. The emphasis should be on practicality and adoption.
- Satish Kallappagoudar - Associate Principal Scientist, Merck
- Brooke Tam, Ph.D. - USP Modeling Expert, Sanofi
- Ashna Dhingra - Senior Scientist, AstraZeneca
- Live digital twins combine process data with mechanistic and machine-learning models to predict permeate and collection-tank titer during 50 L and 500 L perfusion runs, translating bench-scale models into manufacturing-scale insights.
- Combining four detection algorithms enables early warning of filter fouling, providing 8–24 hours of advance notice for all three observed filter-swap events and supporting timely intervention.
- Real-time dashboards and traceable alerts translate predictions into actionable process insights, establishing a foundation for agentic AI and future self-correcting biomanufacturing.
- Tianxin Zhang, Ph.D. - Senior Scientist, AstraZeneca
- High concentration formulations are required to provide the therapeutic dose by subcutaneous injection for a wide range of biopharmaceuticals, including monoclonal antibodies and small interfering RNA.
- This talk will highlight the underlying physical phenomena that create challenges in formulating these products by ultrafiltration, including high viscosity and membrane fouling
- Several novel strategies will be presented for achieving highly concentrated biopharmaceuticals, including the use of vibratory assisted ultrafiltration and forward osmosis
- Andrew Zydney, Ph.D. - Bayard D. Kunkle Chair and Professor of Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University
- Mark Duerkop - Chief Executive Officer, Novasign
Technical and non-technical causes of delay: GMP slot shortages, assay failures, process surprises, transfer friction, short stability windows, comparability hurdles, documentation burden, data governance, definition of holistic control strategies, and organizational silos, including the fact that review and inspection timelines themselves have become less predictable, which changes how much schedule float a program can safely assume. This panel will help prioritize the most avoidable sources of delay.
- Christoph Herwig, Ph.D. - Former Professor of Biochemical Engineering, TU Wien. Serial entrepreneur, CEO Lisalis and Fermify, Lisalis
- Mahendra Rao, Ph.D. - Chief Scientific Officer, Vita Therapeutics
- Shankar Swaminathan, Ph.D. - Team Lead, Drug Product Development, CMC-Tech Ops, Astellas Institute for Regenerative Medicine
This forward-looking panel will separate meaningful next steps from hype in cell and gene therapy manufacturing. It will focus on the technologies and workflow changes most likely to materially change advanced therapy manufacturing over the next five years, including industrialization, in vivo delivery, automation, and data governance, and press panelists on what is actually deployable at scale versus still aspirational. The emphasis should be on practicality and what will actually change patient access.

