CONFERENCE DAY ONE | Wednesday, October 22

7:00 am Check-In & Coffee

7:50 am Chair’s Opening Remarks

8:00 am Industry Leader’s Panel: Overcoming Profitability, Analytical Challenges, Emerging Technologies, & Future Directions

8:45 am Precision in Every Droplet: Advancing Analytics with ddPCR Technology and the QX700 ddPCR Systems

Synopsis

  • Join us to explore the transformative role of Droplet Digital PCR (ddPCR) in gene therapy analytics, past present and future
  • Learn about the NEW Vericheck ddPCR Empty-Full Capsid Kit, enabling scalable and reliable calls of your AAV empty, full, and partial capsids
  • Meet the QX700 ddPCR System—Bio-Rad’s NEW all-in-one platform designed for advanced and scalable 7-color testing.

9:15 am Presentation & Roundtable Discussion: A Review of Gene Therapy Release Assays & Their Utility

  • Uditha deAlwis Vice President - Analytical Development & Quality Control, Sarepta Therapeutics

9:45 am Morning Break & Speed Networking

Synopsis

As this community re-unites for the 7th time, this session will provide valuable networking time with your peers, enabling you to forge new and lasting connections

Enhancing Potency Assessment in Gene Therapy for Reliable Assays & Regulatory Success

10:45 am Overcoming the Challenges of NGS Validation for Gene Therapy Potency & Stability to Improve Consistency

  • Prateek Tripathi Senior Expert - Molecular Biology, Science & Technology, Novartis AG

11:10 am Optimizing Potency Assays for Gene Therapy From Particle Correlation to QC-Friendly Methods

11:35 am Low-variability Titer, VCN, and Genome Integrity Quantification with Countable PCR

11:45 am Defining Potency for LNP-Delivered Gene Therapies: From mRNA to Function

12:10 pm Lunch Break & Networking

Innovative Technologies in Gene Therapy Looking to Advance Vector Characterization & Genome Integrity

1:10 pm Developing Effective Analytical Strategies for In-Depth Full vs Empty Capsid Characterization

Synopsis

  • Why Full versus empty capsid quantification is important.
  • What are the recommended orthogonal techniques available>
  • Summary of case study based on AAV 8 products using Cryo-TEM, Analytical Ultracentrifugation (AUC), Capillary Electrophoresis (CE), SEC-MALS, MADLS, and ddPCR. Each method provided complementary insights into capsid composition, genome content, and particle integrity

1:40 pm Ensuring Genome Integrity in Gene Therapy with Advanced Tools & Techniques

  • Athea Vichas Sr. Principal Scientist, Bristol Myers Squibb

2:05 pm A case study for bridging qPCR assay to ddPCR for quantifying residual plasmid in AAV

2:55 pm Afternoon Break & Poster Session

Advancing Analytical Methods for Complex Gene Therapy Products

3:40 pm Session Reserved for Millipore Sigma

  • Luis Rascon Senior Research Associate, Analytical Development, Astellas Pharma

4:05 pm Session Reserved for Mirus Bio

4:10 pm Aggregation Analysis in AAV: Selecting Fit-for-Purpose Assays

4:35 pm Shining Light on Mass Photometry: Applications & Analytical Challenges in Gene Therapy

5:25 pm Chair’s Closing Remarks

5:30 pm End of Conference Day One