Biography
Biography: Andreas Weiler
Abstract
Cell and Gene Therapies are seen as the next frontier in medicine as they have the potential to bring cures to patients that suffer from life-threatening diseases without many treatment options available to them. The idea that a patient’s own cells can be reprogrammed to replace or eliminate faulty genes or to attack cancer cells in a way that is not naturally possible is giving hope to many. In 2017, we have seen several approvals from these innovative medicines, Kymriah, Yescarta and Luxturna to name a few. However, a key challenge for all players and drug-makers in this field remains to be addressed: the cost of manufacturing is critically high due to the nature of these highly personalized medicines. This high cost greatly limits the number of patients that can be eligible and threatens the sustainability of the therapy as a whole, and this is likely to be reflected in the already high price tags of these drugs for the foreseeable future. In his presentation, Andreas Weiler would like to show the way these medicines are manufactured and delivered to the patients could have significant and disruptive implications for the future of healthcare. He will be sharing his vision and innovative technologies that could reduce the cost of these medicines significantly and make them accessible to a larger number of patients.