Overview
Join us on the 21st of this month as we explore the exciting field of cell therapies, including CAR-T and TCR-T cell therapies which display great potential to transform cancer treatment. This event will feature a keynote address by Novartis providing an overview of the topic of cell therapy and global developments in this area. A panel discussion by experts in the field will then delve into the details of the future promise of these therapies as well as current challenges in the field that may still need to be overcome.
The Cell Therapy Revolution kicks off the Singapore Biotech Insights event series co-organised by EDB, SGInnovate and Biotech Connection Singapore. This series of events aims to foster stronger connections within the local biotech community in Singapore through featuring several current and exciting topics in biotech. Thereby bringing together various stakeholders in the healthcare, tech and other sectors to participate in rich and enlightening discussions with experts in the field, and providing a networking platform to catalyse the formation of valuable new partnerships.
Date:21 October 2019, Monday
Time 5:00pm - 7:00pm
Venue: 250 North Bridge Road, Level 21 Raffles City Tower, Singapore 179101
Keynote Speaker:
- Dr Didier Dargent, Head of International Markets for Cell & Gene Therapy, Novartis Oncology
Panellists:
- Dr Khoo Shih, Managing Director of Life Sciences Investments, Temasek
- Prof Antonio Bertoletti, Scientific Director, Lion TCR and Professor, Duke-NUS Medical School
- Dr Srinivasan N Kellathur, Director of Advanced Therapy Products Branch, Health Sciences Authority
Moderator:
- Chris Hardesty, Director of Life Sciences Practice, KPMG
Programme Details:
5:00pm - 5:20pm: Registration
5:20pm - 5:30pm: Keynote Address by Didier Dargent, Head of International Markets for Cell & Gene Therapy, Novartis Oncology
5:30pm - 6:30pm: Panel Discussion and Q&A
6:30pm - 7:00pm Networking
Keynote Speaker's Profile:
Dr Didier Dargent, Head of International Markets for Cell & Gene Therapy, Novartis Oncology
Dr Didier Dargent is Head of Cell and Gene Oncology International Markets as of July 2019.
He spent eight years in China as General Manager, including two years leading the Novartis Oncology team through a period of accelerated growth as one of the fastest-growing oncology organisations in the country. As General Manager for the Oncology business unit, he played a significant role collaborating with the Global C&G team to accelerate the launch of CAR-T in China.
Prior to joining Novartis, Didier brings with him over 15 years of pharmaceutical experience in Asia and Europe in General Management or Regional role in the Asia Pacific. He held a series of sales and marketing positions in Europe at Lundbeck, Astellas, AstraZeneca.
Didier holds a Master of Business Administration from Tsinghua University, a Master of Business Administration from INSEAD, a Master of Healthcare Business Management from Ecole Suprieure de Commerce de Paris (ESCP) and a Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Marseille in France.
Panellists' Profiles:
Dr Khoo Shih, Managing Director of Life Sciences Investments, Temasek
Khoo Shih joined Temasek in June 2007 and is currently Managing Director, Life Sciences Investments. Prior to joining Temasek, Khoo Shih was Investment Manager with UOB Venture Management Pte Ltd, primarily focusing on Life Science and healthcare-related investment activities. Before UOB, she was the Assistant Head, Biomedical Sciences with the Singapore Economic Development Board.
Khoo Shih graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Microbiology from the National University of Singapore and holds a PhD, Genetics and Development from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
Prof Antonio Bertoletti, Scientific Director, Lion TCR and Professor, Duke-NUS Medical School
Prof Antonio Bertoletti, MD is an expert in the field of viral hepatitis, with a specific interest in the immunopathogenesis of the Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) infection. He began working in viral hepatitis as a medical student at the University of Parma, Italy. He continued his research work at the Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla characterising for the first time the HBV-specific cytotoxic T cell response in man. He returned to the University of Parma, where he worked in the Department of Infectious Diseases as a Clinical Scientist. He then worked at the University College of London, United Kingdom from 1997 to 2006 before moving to Singapore where he is now Professor at the Emerging Viral Disease Program at the Duke-NUS Medical School.
His current research is focussed on the development of new immunological based therapies (TCR-redirected T cells, HLA-peptide specific antibodies) for the treatment of HBV and HBV-related Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
Dr Srinivasan N Kellathur, Director of Advanced Therapy Products Branch, Health Sciences Authority
Dr Srinivasan Kellathur is currently the Director of Advanced Therapy Products Branch at the Singapore Health Sciences Authority, where his work involves the drafting of regulations and policy reviews of cell, tissue and gene therapy products. He is also the Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Centre of Regulatory Excellence (CoRE), Duke-NUS Medical School.
Srini is the lead for regulatory convergence initiative of the APEC Regulatory Harmonization Steering Committee in the area of Advanced Therapy Products. He is a member of the National Mirror Working Group of an ISO Technical Committee on Biotechnology, Vice President, Singapore of the Asian Cellular Therapy Organization and Programme Committee of the International Society for Cell and Gene Therapy (ISCT) Global Regulatory Perspectives (GRP). Srini also sits on several national and international advisory committees, including the APEC Harmonization Centre Advisory Board.
Srini obtained his PhD in Singapore. His post-doctoral training on DNA vaccines for infectious diseases was at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHU SOM) and Division of Biomedical Sciences, Johns Hopkins Singapore. Srini was also a visiting scientist at JHU SOM and the Institute for Infocomm Research, A*STAR.
Moderator's Profile:
Chris Hardesty, Director of Life Sciences Practice, KPMG
Chris Hardesty is a member of KPMG's Global Health & Life Sciences Centre of Excellence, having relocated from the UK to Singapore to focus on developments in the APAC region. He joined KPMG from the industry and has had previous postings in Brazil and the US.
Chris holds experience across a variety of markets and project types. His particular passion is on public-private collaborations to drive innovative, safe, and economically-viable initiatives in the sector. Some examples of projects that Chris has worked on include value-based pricing, "beyond the product" strategy, supply chain traceability, supplier risk management, market access, regulatory approvals, and electronic patient recordkeeping.
Chris is a member of key industry consortiums, serves as a mentor in the start-up ecosystem, and is a regularly-published author in such forums as Healthcare Asia.
