The Alliance for Regenerative Medicine Announces Immuno-Oncology Clinical and Patient Education Roundtable

WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwired - May 5, 2016) - The Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM), the international advocacy organization representing the gene and cellular therapies and broader regenerative medicine sector, announced it will hold the Immuno-Oncology Clinical and Patient Education Roundtable May 24, the second event in its patient roundtable series.

ARM's patient roundtable series is intended to serve as an educational resource for the broader patient community and to help bridge the gap between industry and patient groups who are working towards the common goal of durable, and potentially curative, therapies.

Held in partnership with Friends of Cancer Research and sponsored by Editas Medicine, Audentes Therapeutics, MaxCyte, Precision Biosciences and ThermoFisher Scientific, this event will focus on educating multi-sector stakeholders regarding the potential of gene and cellular therapies in immuno-oncology across tumor types, including an update on the latest scientific progress and related policy initiatives. This roundtable discussion is expected to attract more than 100 individuals, including patient advocates, immuno-oncology and cell and gene therapies industry leaders and clinicians.

Roundtable Program Agenda:

2:30 - 2:45pm	Welcome & Introductory Remarks Ryan Hohman, Managing Director, Policy and Public Affairs, Friends of Cancer Research Morrie Ruffin, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Alliance for Regenerative Medicine
2:45 - 3:30pm	Firesire Chat: The Clinician and Patient Relationship Jamie Goldfarb, Melanoma Survivor & Patient Advocate; Research Advocate, National Cancer Institute Steven Rosenberg, M.D., Ph.D., Chief, Surgery Branch; Senior Investigator; Head, Tumor Immunology Section, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute
3:30 - 4:30pm	Immuno-Oncology in Cell & Gene Therapies A multi-stakeholder panel laying the groundwork for an in-depth policy discussion Renier Brentjens, M.D., Ph.D., Director, Cell Therapy Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Shawn Leland, Pharm. D., Senior Director, Corporate Development and Strategy, Argos Therapeutics Isabelle Rivière, Ph.D., Director, Cell Therapy and Cell Engineering Laboratory, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Morrie Ruffin, Co-Founder & Managing Director, Alliance for Regenerative Medicine
4:30 - 4:45pm	Afternoon Break
4:45 - 5:45pm	The Three P's: Politics, Policy & PDUFA A multi-stakeholder panel discussion featuring leaders from Capitol Hill, cancer research organizations and regulators Jeff Allen, Executive Director, Friends of Cancer Research Raj Puri, M.D., Ph.D., Director, Division of Cellular and Gene Therapies, Office of Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Marc Theoret, M.D., Lead Medical Officer, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Michael Werner, Co-Founder & Executive Director, Alliance for Regenerative Medicine
5:45 - 6:00pm	Closing Remarks: Next Steps
6:00 - 7:00pm	Networking & Cocktail Reception

"Gene and cell therapies represent clinically revolutionary approaches to treating and potentially curing several forms of cancer," said Morrie Ruffin, ARM managing director. "These very recently-developed therapeutic advances offer patients the hope of accessing transformative treatments in the near future."

This event will take place at the St. Regis hotel in Washington, D.C., 923 16th Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20006.

Cost of attendance is $150 for ARM members; $225 for non-ARM members. The event is complimentary for patients, patient advocates, clinician attendees and members of the media. For more information and to register, please visit http://alliancerm.org/event/arms-immuno-oncology-roundtable.

Please note this roundtable is held in conjunction with ARM's Annual Dinner & Legislative Fly-In, also taking place May 24-25 in Washington DC. Attendees are encouraged to attend both events.
For those interested in attending the roundtable, dinner and legislative fly-in, cost of attendance is $425 for ARM members and $500 for non-ARM members.

For questions regarding this event, please contact Chelsey Hathaway, chathaway@alliancerm.org. For media interested in attending this event, please contact Lyndsey Scull, lscull@alliancerm.org.

About The Alliance for Regenerative Medicine

The Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM) is an international multi-stakeholder advocacy organization that promotes legislative, regulatory and reimbursement initiatives necessary to facilitate access to life-giving advances in regenerative medicine worldwide. ARM also works to increase public understanding of the field and its potential to transform human healthcare, providing business development and investor outreach services to support the growth of its member companies and research organizations. Prior to the formation of ARM in 2009, there was no advocacy organization operating in Washington, D.C. to specifically represent the interests of the companies, research institutions, investors and patient groups that comprise the entire regenerative medicine community. Today, ARM has more than 240 members and is the leading global advocacy organization in this field. To learn more about ARM or to become a member, visit http://www.alliancerm.org.