Panelists:
Sandy Ottensmann
VP/GM, Gene Writing & Editing Business Unit, IDT
Panelist
Sandy Ottensmann
Sandy Ottensmann has spent the last decade within Danaher’s life sciences and diagnostics business, having led IDT’s Gene Writing and Editing and Core/PCR Business Units since January 2023. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, a Master of Science in Chemistry from Stanford University, and a Bachelor of Science with honor in Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology.
Mark Wetzel
VP/GM mRNA CDMO Services, Aldevron
Panelist
Mark Wetzel
Mark Wetzel is VP/GM mRNA CDMO Services at Aldevron .
Sadik Kassim, PhD
CSO/CTO (Genomic Medicines), Danaher Corporation
Panelist
Sadik Kassim, PhD
Sadik Kassim is a scientist at Genomic Medicines for the Life Sciences Companies at Danaher and executive with extensive experience in the biotechnology industry with a specific focus on cell and gene therapy bioprocessing and translational research. Currently, he serves as CSO and CTO at Danaher, with a focus on Genomic Medicines.
Broadcast Date:
- Time:
Last month, for the first time, a baby with a rare genetic disorder known as “Baby KJ” was treated with a gene-editing therapy tailored to his rare mutation. The milestone made headlines—and marked a win for the genome editing field, offering new promise for the future of genomic medicine.
But there is another layer to the story: how the treatment was manufactured. Developing a single, personalized therapy required a coordinated sprint from teams at IDT, Aldevron, and Danaher, working under intense pressure to produce the gene-editing payload and its delivery system. Now, the real challenge lies ahead—delivering treatments like this to more patients. On this GEN Live, we take a close look at the work behind this successful treatment and perhaps more importantly, we explore how this can be done on a larger scale in the future. We will discuss the challenges that lie ahead, including scale and cost, and how some companies are thinking about solving those.
