Fast to Clinic, Built to Scale: Enabling Cell, Gene, and RNA Therapies That Change Patients’ Lives

Presented by SAPA-NE and Novartis

*** In-Person Event ***

Members FREE (Please login to your account to see discount)

• Date: Friday, April 10, 2026

• Time: 12:15 PM – 5:00 PM EDT (Check-in starts at 12:15 PM)

• Location: Novartis, 700 Main Street, Cambridge, MA

Event Overview

Join SAPA-NE and Novartis for an afternoon focused on how teams move programs quickly into the clinic without cutting the wrong corners. This workshop provides practical, experience-driven insights on the journey from discovery through development, highlighting how early decisions in CMC, clinical strategy, and global operations impact scalability and robustness.

Hear real-world case studies from industry leaders across biotech and big pharma, then stay for a lively panel discussion and networking with peers in R&D, CMC, and clinical execution.

Workshop Agenda

• 12:15 PM – 1:15 PM: Check-in & Networking

• 1:15 PM – 1:20 PM: Opening Remarks

  • Yuemei Zhang, PhD: President of SAPA-NE (Eli Lilly)

  • Hong Liu, PhD: SAPA-NE Secretary General (Novartis)

• 1:20 PM – 1:50 PM: Smart Risk-Taking: Building a Startup into a Product Engine – Alex Harding

• 1:50 PM – 2:20 PM: Speaker Session – Luis Brito

• 2:20 PM – 2:50 PM: Speaker Session – Howard Wu

• 2:50 PM – 3:00 PM: Short Break (Coffee and snacks provided)

• 3:00 PM – 3:30 PM: Streamlining Gtx Program Development by Leveraging Platform Data – Eloise Hudry

• 3:30 PM – 4:00 PM: Moderated Panel Discussion: How to Reach the Clinic Fastest and Scale Effectively

• 4:00 PM – 4:45 PM: Networking Session

• 4:45 PM: Closing Remarks

Featured Speakers & Panelists

• Alex Harding, MD, MBA: CEO at a stealth-stage biotechnology company; Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Atlas Venture.

• Luis Brito, PhD: VP, LNP Platform at Beam Therapeutics.

• Howard Wu, PhD: Co-founder and CSO of Full Circle Therapeutics.

• Eloise Hudry, PhD: Director, Head Investigative Translational Toxicology at Novartis.

• Huijuan Li, PhD: Vice President – DDS and Head of Analytical Development at GSK.

Why Attend

• Learn practical strategies for moving cell, gene, and RNA programs to the clinic rapidly while remaining built-to-scale.

• Discover how early CMC and development decisions (including AI and IIT models) significantly impact long-term program robustness.

• Compare perspectives from venture capital, stealth-mode startups, and global pharmaceutical leaders.

• Expand your New England network across discovery, CMC, clinical development, and regulatory affairs.

Transportation and Parking

• Public Transit: We highly recommend using the MBTA Red Line (Kendall/MIT station) or Green Line to access the Cambridge Novartis campus.

• Parking: Guests are responsible for their own parking fees. Limited street parking may be available on Friday afternoon; attendees are encouraged to use nearby public parking garages.

Seats are limited—reserve yours now to be part of this focused, high-impact workshop. (Registration cap: 110 participants).

Please contact info@sapa-neweb.org if you have any questions.

SAPA-NE Executive Committee