
This webinar was recorded on Monday, October 20, 2025.
The cell therapy field is at a pivotal moment, balancing groundbreaking clinical success with major challenges in manufacturing and patient access. Our recent webinar, co-hosted with Cellares, convened a panel of industry leaders to dissect the core trends shaping this landscape and explore the path to making these life-saving treatments more widely available.
Manufacturing and Automation are Key
A key theme was that overcoming the manufacturing bottleneck is critical to the future of cell therapy. Panelists agreed that the field has moved past the myth of "bedside" manufacturing, recognizing that centralized, automated production is the only viable path to scalability and affordability. Fabian Gerlinghaus highlighted that new automation technologies are already reducing the need for labor and facility space by an order of magnitude, effectively cutting the batch price in half. This innovation is crucial for resolving production bottlenecks and expanding patient access.
The Path to Broader Access
While the high price of therapies is a known hurdle, the panel identified the "total cost of care," largely driven by required inpatient stays, as the more significant barrier. The consensus is that the next generation of CAR-T therapies, with improved safety profiles, will enable a critical shift to the outpatient setting. This move will not only reduce costs but will dramatically increase the number of hospitals and clinics that can offer these treatments, bringing them closer to the patients who need them. The future of cell therapy is bright, with experts confident that solving manufacturing will unlock its full, curative potential for patients everywhere.
Moderators:
• Carl Schoellhammer, Ph.D., Partner at DeciBio Consulting
• Rebecca Burnham, Ph.D., Senior Product Manager at DeciBio Consulting
Panelists:
• Fabian Gerlinghaus, Co-Founder & CEO at Cellares
• Christian Capitini, M.D., Director at University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center
• Christopher McDonald, Board Member at Cellares and Nucleus RadioPharma
• Nelly Viseux, Vice President of Cell Therapies Development, Manufacturing, Supply & Quality at Regeneron
Check out our full webinar below to hear the in-depth discussion on the future of cell therapy, from solid tumor treatments to the real-world potential of in-vivo approaches.
Webinar Recording: