Ascend partners with industry to drive down gene therapy cost for better patient access
Posted: 7 February 2024Gene therapy is a game-changer, offering highly effective and potentially curative treatments that can deliver significant long-term savings. These therapies are still at very early stages, but as the clinical pipeline expands and regulatory understanding increases, approval timelines will shrink.
Recent approvals of gene therapies for sickle cell disease―a more prevalent condition―have validated gene therapies and widened the range of potential applications they can treat, which translates to more opportunities across the industry.
Ascend is assembling a highly skilled team through strategic acquisitions, which is essential to driving production quality. Recent acquisitions are also further expanding development, characterization, and manufacturing capabilities. Emphasis is placed on innovation and implementation of advanced analytic and manufacturing technologies that improve product yields and quality and manufacturing scalability to achieve cost savings while ensuring safety and efficacy. Progress is also being made on GMP certification in both the US (manufacturing through fill/finish) and Europe (analytics).