Speaker Profile
MD, PhD, President & CEO, Gritstone bio, Inc.
Biography
Andrew Allen, M.D., Ph.D. co-founded Gritstone bio, Inc. in 2015 and is a board member. In 2009, Dr. Allen co-founded Clovis Oncology and served as chief medical officer until 2015, driving development of rucaparib, a PARP inhibitor. Prior he was chief medical officer at Pharmion Corporation, developing Vidaza, the first DNA methylation inhibitor, until acquisition by Celgene in 2008. Dr. Allen also served in clinical development leadership roles at Chiron Corporation and Abbott Laboratories, and worked at McKinsey Company. He currently serves on the board of directors of TCR2 Therapeutics and Sierra Oncology (both public) and Revitope Oncology and Verge Genomics (both private). He previously served on the board of Epizyme (first approved histone methylation transferase inhibitor) and Cell Design Labs (acquired by Gilead Sciences in 2017). Dr. Allen qualified in medicine at Oxford University and received a Ph.D. in immunology from Imperial College in London.
Talk
Self-Amplifying mRNA Multi-Antigen Coronavirus Vaccine
First generation COVID-19 vaccines deliver Spike to induce protective neutralizing antibodies. Spike mutations can attenuate such narrow immunity. Gritstone bio has developed a self-amplifying mRNA vaccine platform that delivers Spike plus additional conserved T cell epitopes from other viral genes. Strong immunity has been demonstrated in NHP. Human data are being generated.
Session Abstract – PMWC 2024 Silicon Valley
Track Chair: Sharon Benzeno, Adaptive Biotechnologies
- PMWC 2024 Award Ceremony
Pioneer Honoree: Stanley Riddell, Fred Hutchinson
Pioneer Honoree: George Coukos, Ludwig Cancer Center
- Keynote: Engineering Synthetic T Cell States for Cancer Rejection
- George Coukos, Ludwig Cancer Center
- Discovery of Novel Targets in Cell Therapies in Oncology and Autoimmune Disorders (PANEL)
Chair: Harlan Robins, Adaptive Bio
- Stanley Riddell, Fred Hutchinson
- Allison Betof Warner, Stanford
- Lawrence Fong, UCSF - Supply Chain 2.0 Getting Cell Therapies to Patients (PANEL)
Chair: Jean Xu, Janssen Pharmaceuticals
- Amanda Pace, Sonoma Bio
- Laura Deschenes, Sana Biotechnology - Evolving Case Law and Practical Strategies for Immunotherapy Patents
- Janet Xiao, Morrison & Foerster LLP
- Emerging Clinical Data in Oncology Cell Therapeutics
Chair: Andrew Allen, Gritstone bio, Inc.
- Robert Meehan, Moderna - Scientific Advancements in Individualized Cell Therapies in Oncology ( PANEL)
Chair: Sharon Benzeno, Adaptive Biotechnologies
- Ira Mellman, Genenetch
- Robert Meehan, Moderna
- Dirk Nagorsen, Affini-T Therapeutics - AI-Enhanced Approaches in Cell Therapy Development
Chair: Suchit Jhunjhunwala, Genentech
- Brian Weitzner, Outpace Bio
- PMWC Showcase
- Arun Wiita, UCSF
