Conference Program – 2nd of June
Time | Event |
5.15 pm | Registration |
6.00 – 6.30 pm | Welcome Address |
Welcome by the moderator Isabel Werdin | |
A welcome from Saxony - Prof. Dr. Heike Graßmann (State Secretary at the SMWK) -Alexander Dierks (President of the Saxon State Parliament) | |
Greeting from the BMFTR Dr. Ralf Gebel (Head of the sub-department “Innovative Ecosystems” at the BMFTR) | |
6.30 pm | Opening of the dinner buffet |
7.00 – 8.30 pm | Dinner Key Notes |
Lorenz Mayr, Future Vision and Trends in Cell and Gene Therapy | |
Verena Lütschg, Technology on the rise: Innovation requires enthusiasm | |
9.00 - 9.10 pm | Felix Lansing, SaxoCell Innovation Spotlight – Seamless Therapeutics |
End at 10.00 pm | Get-together |
Conference Program – 3rd of June
Time | Event |
8.15 am | Registration & Coffee |
9.00 – 9.15 am | Welcome by the SaxoCell speakers Ulrike Köhl and Frank Buchholz |
9.15 – 10.30 am | Session 1: Cell and Gene therapy in oncology |
Marcela V. Maus, New insights into CAR T cells | |
Katrin Wetzko, TCRs/TILs in solid tumors - state of the art | |
Ulrike Weirauch, Digital Molecular Medicine Approaches for Immunomonitoring Strategy Development and Improvement of Patient Care in Engineered Adoptive Cell Therapy | |
Xiaohan Liang, Optimizing Cell and Gene Therapy Workflows with High-Performance Proteins and Antibodies | |
Coffee Break | |
10.50 – 11.50 am | Session 2: Cell and Gene therapy in autoimmune diseases and degeneration |
Dimitrios Mougiakakos, CAR T cells in autoimmune diseases | |
Fabian Müller, CD19 CAR T cells in autoimmune disease - from deep B cell depletion to lasting remission | |
Mike Karl, Human preclinical modeling of cell therapies for vision loss | |
Lunch Break & Poster Session | |
12.50 – 1.15 pm | Pitch session for pre-seeds and start-ups |
TQ Therapeutics, Christin Zündorf | |
NanoVation Therapeutics, Dominik Witzigmann | |
Cancilico, Jan Moritz Middeke | |
BioThrust, Patrick Bongartz | |
Green Elephant Biotech, Katharina Günther | |
SMART-NK Therapeutics, Jiri Eitle | |
Coffee Break | |
1.40 – 2.50 pm | Session 3: Delivery Technologies and new trends in Genetic Engineering |
Kathrin Schumann, Strategies for Safer CRISPR-Engineering of Human T Cells | |
Ernst Wagner, Chamaeleon Nanocarriers for RNA Delivery and Genome Editing | |
Julian Jude, Writing The Future - From DNA to Ai | |
Martin Rabel, A next-generation ionizable lipid LNP platform enabling efficient in vivo CAR T cell generation in mice and NHP using passive and active immune cell targeting strategies | |
Coffee Break | |
3.20 – 5.40 pm | Session 4: Challenges towards clinical translation and financing |
Marcelina Bugaj, The Therapy Begins Before the Infusion: A Patient Perspective on Anti-CD19 CAR-T Cell Therapy in ACPA-Positive Rheumatoid Arthritis | |
Christoph Conrad, Regulation as a Compass – Learnings from Two Years of Supporting Academic Translation | |
Rebekka Wehner, Clinical relevance of multiplex IHC-based characterization of the tumor immune landscape | |
Andreas Traube, From craft to scale - Matrix Manufacturing for Cost-Efficient Cell and Gene Therapy Production | |
Tomasz Baran, CMO of FamiCord AG, Perinatal Stem Cell Banking as a Platform for ATMP Development | |
Ion Tcacencu, Regulatory Roadmaps to Translate Academic ATMP Innovations into Clinic | |
Panel Discussion – Christopher Baum, Regina Demlová, Ralf Huss, Marion Jung | |
5.40 – 6.00 pm | Poster and Pitch Award ceremony & Closing Session |
6.00 – 8.00 pm | Closing Reception & Networking |
Speakers
Andreas Traube
Head of Division for Healthcare Industry and Life Sciences at Fraunhofer IPA
Dr. Christoph Conrad
Head of Staff Office Regulatory Affairs and Regulatory Support Unit at Charité
Prof. Dr. Dimitros Mougiakakos
Chair and Director of the Department of of Hematology, Oncology and Cell Therapy at University of Magdeburg
Prof. Dr. Ernst Wagner
Chair of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Department Pharmacy, LMU Munich
Prof. Dr. Fabian Müller
Prof. for experimental and Clinical CAR T Cell Therapy, Head of CAR T Cell Program at University Hospital of Erlangen
Dr. Ion Tcacencu
Consultant CMC at hVIVO
Dr. Julian Jude
Global Director of Emerging Applications at Twist Bioscience
Dr. Kathrin Schumann
Professor for Immunology at the University of Konstanz
Dr. Katrin Wetzko
Deputy director of the NCT/UCC Early Clinical Trial Unit
Dr. Lorenz Mayr
Managing Director at BioMedTech Consulting GmbH
Marcelina Bugaj
Patient representative
Prof. Dr. Marcela Maus
Director Cellular Immunotherapy, Harvard Professor
Dr. Martin Rabel
Business Development & Licensing Manager at Cytiva
Prof. Dr. med. Mike O. Karl
Professor, Retinal Stem Cell Research and Neurogenesis at the Technical University of Dresden
Dr. Rebekka Wehner
Postdoc at Institute of Immunology, TU Dresden Coordinator, NCT Immune Monitoring Unit Dresden
Tomasz Baran
Chief Medical Officer of FamiCord
Dr. Ulrike Weirauch
Scientist and Science Manager at Fraunhofer IZI
Dr. Verena Lütschg
Keynote Speaker, Author, Strategist
Dr. Xiaohan Liang
Technical Specialist at Sino Biological
Panelists
Prof. Dr. Christopher Baum
Chair of the BIH Board of Directors and Chief Translational Research Officer of Charité
Dr. Marion Jung
COO at T-CURX
Prof. Dr. Ralf Huss
Managing director of BioM in Martinsried/Munich
Dr. Regina Demlova
Director of CREATIC CoE
Startup Pitches
Christin Zündorf
Chief Business Officer at TQ Therapeutics
Dominik Witzigmann
Co-Founder & President at NanoVation Therapeutics
Felix Lansing
Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Seamless Therapeutics
Dr. med. Jan Moritz Middeke
CMO at Cancilio
Dr. Jiri Eitler
SMART-NK Therapeutics
Katharina Günther
Head of Biology & Applications at Green Elephant Biotech
Patrick Bongartz
CEO at BioThrust
Moderator
Isabel Werdin
Moderator
What can you expect?
Excellent scientific talks
and exciting keynotes
Pitch session for
promising startups
and R&D teams
Panel discussion on how to
overcome the valley of death
in CGT development
Familiarization with
the SaxoCell network
Welcoming atmosphere
in the heart
of Dresden
200+ participants
from academia,
clinics, industry & exhibition area
Frequently Asked Questions
When is the conference taking place and what time does it start and end?
The conference is scheduled for June 02 to 03, 2026. The program is set to begin at 6 pm, with registration opening at 5.15 pm. The conference program concludes at 5.30 pm.
Where is the SaxoCell Conference 2026 taking place?
Penck Hotel Dresden
Ostra-Allee 33
01067 Dresden, Germany
Completely renovated in 2019, this design hotel in a central city location is named after Dresden-born artist A.R. Penck. Over 700 original works can be found throughout the hotel. Penck himself created most of the works on display for the hotel. Be fascinated by Penck’s incredible use of form and colour and enjoy your stay surrounded by the newly curated works of Ralf Winkler, as Penck was known by his real name. Art lovers will not only get their money’s worth in the centrally located design hotel itself, but also in the museums of the Dresden State Art Collections in the old town, which are within walking distance.
How to get there?
You can use various modes of public transportation. The venue is centrally located in Dresden, making it easily accessible. It is a 10-15 min walk to the famous Dresdner Zwinger, Semper Oper and Frauenkirche.
By Train: Bahnhof Dresden Mitte – 0,3km, S1, S2, RE, RE15, RE18, RE50
By Tram: Stop at Dresden Kongresszentrum, Tram 4, 6, 10, 11
By plane: Airport Dresden International (DRS) – 9,5km
Is parking available?
The hotel has 70 parking spaces in the underground car park, which can be used for €20 per day. Limited parking is also available on the street for a parking fee.
Will catering be provided?
Yes! On Day 1, we have the Opening Dinner and during Day 2, lunch along with drinks and light refreshments available throughout the day will be provided.
Is there a conference hotel?
There is a limited number of single and double rooms available directly at the Penck Hotel (with special rates). Please book your rooms as soon as possible by contacting the hotel at reservierung@penckhotel.de (or by phone at +49351/4922-785) and using the key word “SAXOCELL”, as any unused rooms will be cancelled at least 4 weeks before the conference. Bookings must be made individually and hotel costs are to be paid by each guest.
For all information about the hotel and booking go directly to: Penck Hotel Dresden im Stadtzentrum 4* Design Hotel in der Innenstadt. Individual, free cancellation of a room that has already been reserved is possible up to 7 days prior to arrival, in accordance with the hotel’s terms and conditions. Later cancellations will be charged at 90% of the room price.
What language is the conference in?
The program of the conference will be conducted in English.
Will it be possible to purchase a ticket on site?
If you wish to attend the conference, you need to purchase tickets in advance. Tickets can be acquired through our website.
I have purchased a ticket and will not be able to come. Can I get a refund?
Unfortunately, refunds are not possible. We would be pleased to transfer your ticket to a colleague, though. Please also mind our General Terms and Conditions you accepted during the ticket booking process.
Will there be an online stream of the conference?
At this time, we are not considering a live stream for the event.
Visibility Partners
(in alphabetical order)
Gold Sponsors
(in alphabetical order)
Silver Sponsors
(in alphabetical order)
Bronze Sponsors
(in alphabetical order)
Abstract Submission
Registration for Pitch and Poster Session closed!
Rewards:
1st place poster session: Surprise gift
1st place pitch session: Ticket to BioVaria 2027 in Munich
Many thanks to the sponsor BioVaria2027!
The deadline for registration was the 31st of March.
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Präzisionstherapie-Cluster
