By:
Eddie Tan, PhD CABP (Centre of Regulatory Excellence (CoRE), Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore)
Chaiyong Koaykul, PhD (Chulalongkorn University-Excellence Center for Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products, Thailand)
On behalf of ISCT Asia Regional ESP committee
Date and Time: Thursday December 5th, 2024, (07:30 IST, 09:00 ICT, 10:00 SGT and CST, 11:00 JST and KST).
The session was opened by Prof. William YK Hwang (ISCT Asia Regional VP) and he introduced the other senior members of the ISCT Asia Regional Leadership Team present, including Dr. Pawan Gupta (ISCT Asia Regional VP-Elect), Prof. Shin Kawamata (ISCT Asia Regional Secretary), Past Asia Regional VPs and representatives from the Asia Regional ESP Committee.
The virtual town hall featured presentations from 2 eminent experts in Asia:
- ‘Challenges and future prospects of iPSC-based cell therapy’ presented by Prof. Shin Kawamata (CEO, Cyto-Facto Inc)
- Prof. Kawamata started with an introduction of the current landscape of iPSC-based cell therapies and research.
- He highlighted several key challenges in the field, including ‘standardization of iPSC banking’, ‘retention of differentiation potential without variability in vitro’, and ‘challenges with genetic abnormalities due to prolonged culture’.
- He then showcased key efforts in developing iPSC-based solutions in Japan.
- ‘Allogeneic CAR-T therapy in autoimmune diseases’ by Prof. Huji Xu (Tsinghua University)
- Prof. Huji Xu provided a compelling case of using Allogeneic CAR-Ts in autoimmune diseases, citing benefit over current Autologous CAR-T-based efforts.
- He then gave an introduction on Allogeneic CAR-T efforts by Chinese Investigators, highlighting the promising progress in the use of allogeneic CAR-Ts in clinical use cases.
Dr. Pawan Gupta moderated an interactive question and answer session between the online participants and the speakers.
The ISCT Asia Regional Town Hall continued with presentations and updates from ISCT:
- Prof. William Hwang reported the growth of ISCT membership in Asia, with a 43% total growth in membership compared to 2023. He also highlighted the sizable contribution from Early-Stage Professional members, making up 35% of all Asia membership.
- Prof. Hwang also introduced the other Asia regional efforts to support Cell and Gene Therapies, such as the Asia Pacific Industry Committee and the Asia Regional ESP Subcommittee.
- Mr. Raymond Lam (Associate Director, Workforce Development Programs and Partnerships) provided an update to the featured courses by the ISCT Institute of Training & Development in 2025.
- Prof. Hwang announced the organization of the Inaugural ISCT Asia Regional Meeting in 2026, as a gathering of scientific leaders, innovators, and key stakeholders advancing cell and gene therapies across the Asia region.
- Prof. Edwin M. Horwitz (Editor-in-Chief, Cytotherapy) presented passionately on the improvement efforts by the Cytotherapy editorial team, inviting greater engagement of the Asia Regional members in publishing and as reviewers.
The ISCT Asia Regional Town Hall has provided us with renewed optimism of the continued growth of CGTs in Asia. We are looking forward to seeing greater collaborations and more ISCT-led initiatives in the years ahead.
If you are interested to know more about our initiatives, please visit:
ISCT Regional Executive Committees: https://www.isctglobal.org/about/leadership/regional-executive-committees
Asia Regional ESP Subcommittee: https://www.isctglobal.org/about/isct-committees/esp/anz-regional-esp-subcommittee289
Asia Pacific Industry Committee: https://www.isctglobal.org/about/isct-committees/apac-industry
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