Life Sciences Future, the annual meeting of the Pennsylvania life sciences ecosystem, took place in September, and offered a valuable opportunity for representatives from academia and the biotechnology, MedTech and pharmaceutical industries to connect and discuss strategic partnering.
Jonathan Epstein, MD, Interim Executive Vice President, University of Pennsylvania for the Health System & Dean, Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, and James Wilson, MD, PhD, the Rose H. Weiss Orphan Disease Center Director’s Professor at Penn Medicine, served as keynote speakers for a talk titled “Cell and Gene Therapy: Today and Tomorrow.” Dr. Wilson and Dr. Epstein discussed the future of cell and gene therapy and how the industry continues to work toward breakthrough treatments for patients.
John Swartley, MBA, PhD, Chief Innovation Officer, University of Pennsylvania, moderated a panel titled “Tech Transfer – Impact, Priorities and Direction”, which included panelists from innovation and technology transfer offices from across the region, including Benjamin Dibling, PhD, Associate Vice Provost for Research, Managing Director of PCI.
Additionally, Katie Reuther, PhD, MBA, Executive Director, Penn Health-Tech, and Laurie Actman, Chief Marketing, Communications and Program Officer at PCI, provided an overview of Penn’s commercialization resources for emerging health tech companies to help potential external partners to better understand how to connect with Penn’s robust pipeline of innovators.