Merck is inviting speakers to participate in its free digital summit on gene therapy taking place from May 3 to 17, 2021. The summit will feature presentations and a panel discussion on topics related to gene therapy technologies, challenges, lessons learned from scaling production to commercialization, and regulatory guidelines. Speakers can submit abstracts to present a recorded 45-minute to 1-hour presentation and participate in a live Q&A, or join the panel on the next decade of gene therapy in Europe. The goal is to share knowledge on the current state and future of gene therapy.

1. Call for Speakers
The Art of
Gene Therapy
Join a digital dialog | May 3 to 17 on Mondays and Wednesdays
© 2021 Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany and/or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
Merck is a trademark of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany or its affiliates. All
other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Detailed information
on trademarks is available via publicly accessible resources.
Merck invites you to the Art of Gene Therapy digital
summit, a free event drawing on the collective
experience of industry leading gene therapy
companies and regulatory agencies such as the FDA,
ARM, bluebird bio and many others.
In order to contribute to this gene therapy digital
summit, you can choose one or both options to share
your scientific knowledge, review trends and
technical challenges and be at the forefront of the
future of gene therapy:
• Submit an abstract on the topic of your choice:
recorded presentation and live Q&A session,
around 45 minutes to 1 hour
• Be part of the panel discussion session about
“The next decade of gene therapy in EMEA”
The digital summit will shine a light on gene therapy
future technologies, technical challenges, lessons
learned from scale up to commercialization and what
is on the horizon for regulatory guidelines.
EMEA Edition 2021
The life science business of Merck operates as MilliporeSigma in the
U.S. and Canada.
Date: Monday 3rd
of May & Wednesday 5th
of May
Monday 10th
of May & Wednesday 12th
of May
Monday 17th
of May
Time: 3:00 – 5:00 pm (CET)
Abstract submission guidelines:
1800 characters (1/2 A4) maximum
Abstract submission deadline:
March 3rd
, 2021
Submission to:
nargisse.el-hajjami@merckgroup.com
Confirmed gene therapy presentations:
• Overview of the gene therapy market, ARM
• Right-first-time: Platform development for virus
manufacturing
• Yesterday’s learnings: Trial and errors from scale-up
to commercialization, bluebird bio
• Regulatory horizons: 2020 vision on FDA guidelines,
FDA
• Tomorrows view: What’s next for analytical
development?
• Futuristic outlook on gene therapy
• A-Gene: Applying Quality By Design principles to the
development and manufacture of gene therapies, ARM
Suggested gene therapy topics*:
• Viral vectors manufacturing: process and
development, scaling-up, process optimization,
challenges, analytical tools, testing and validation...
• Novel modalities for gene therapy
• Plasmid DNA manufacturing
• Gene editing tools
• Regulatory aspects
• Testing and analytics
• Patient safety
* This list is not exhaustive. Should you have a
specific topic you would like to cover, please do not
hesitate to submit your idea.