Episode 3 – Cell & gene therapy with Dr Sam Wadsworth, Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical & Dr Eric Ostertag, Poseida Therapeutics

In this episode of Drug Target Review’s podcast, Deputy Editor Victoria Rees discusses cell and gene therapies with Dr Sam Wadsworth, Chief Scientific Officer of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical and Dr Eric Ostertag, Chief Executive Officer of Poseida Therapeutics.

Both will be presenting and speaking at the Cell & Gene Therapy Advancements online summit on 3 – 4 November 2021 – find out more by clicking here.

Dr Wadsworth will be joining the session on combatting the immune response to AAV vectors and discussing the challenges associated with AAVs for gene therapy and why engineering better vectors could help to overcome these issues. 

In the podcast, he explores why AAV vectors are used to deliver gene therapy and the benefits they offer, as well as ways to reduce the dosage required.

“AAV vectors are ideal for many applications and the basic simple reasons are that they have a great safety profile and they have a long duration of expression,” said Dr Wadsworth. “Today, we have clear proof that AAV vectors can be lifesaving… they have tremendous ability to deliver lifesaving therapies.”

Dr Ostertag will join the session on utilising CAR T-cell therapies against solid tumours and will explore why CAR T-cell therapies are less effective in solid tumours than in blood cancers and how to minimise toxicity to ensure a targeted approach.

In this episode, he covers why CAR T cells have shown success in haematological cancers and promising new developments that mean they could be used for a wide range of tumours.

“Blood tumours are relatively easy to access for a CAR T product and that’s not always the case for solid tumour indications,” said Dr Ostertag. “There are other hypotheses that revolve around the so-called tumour microenvironment; meaning that solid tumours have certain characteristics – hypoxia in the centre of the tumour or checkpoint inhibitors that cause problems with the T cells killing the solid tumours – that can limit success.”

Make sure you don’t miss out and reserve your spot at Drug Target Review’s Cell & Gene Therapy Advancements online summit today!