Reuters Pharma USA 2024 – Blair McNeill

In today's era of cell, gene, and tissue therapies, new treatments are truly game-changing, often creating an opportunity for a healthy, normal life for people who previously had no options. But there are many challenges when it comes to administering them at scale.

Perhaps no example highlights both those realities as well as Sumitomo’s tissue-based therapy RETHYMIC for children with congenital athymia.

At Reuters Pharma USA last week in Philadelphia, Blair McNeill, SVP and head of cell therapy for Sumitomo Pharma America spoke with pharmaphorum editor-in-chief Jonah Comstock about the difficulties of collecting donations and administering an allogeneic therapy like RETHYMIC.

They talk about why Sumitomo decided it needed to create its own manufacturing operation, rather than working with a partner, and discuss how this particular case can inform larger trends and lingering questions about gene therapy.

View the full conversation below, and stay tuned for more video interviews from the show.