Astellas is doubling down on gene therapy while others retreat. Richard Wilson, SVP Primary Focus Lead, Genetic Regulation at Astellas, joins In Vivo to discuss why the company believes AAV technology will transform medicine despite current industry headwinds.

🎯 Key Topics:
- Why Astellas opened a massive new gene therapy manufacturing facility
- Building an end-to-end AAV platform from research to commercial
- Strategic partnerships driving CNS and rare disease programs
- Maintaining team morale in a challenging investment climate
- Regulatory outlook and the path to commercial success

Richard also plays a role in Astellas' West Coast Innovation Center and serves on the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine board. He shares insights on manufacturing at scale, patient-centric culture, and the long-term potential of gene therapy.

Perfect for biotech investors, pharma executives, and anyone tracking the evolution of genetic medicines.

🔗 More insights: insights.citeline.com/in-vivo

Astellas Doubles Down on Gene Therapy Despite Industry Headwinds

Suus and Micah dive into the surprisingly dramatic world of biotech audits and inspections, where FDA investigators can show up unannounced, silence is a weapon, and everyone's trained not to accidentally confess to crimes they didn't commit. From mock inspections to actual warrants being slammed on tables, discover why having zero deviations is more suspicious than having a few, and how strategic coffee breaks can save the day.
Warning: No actual bodies were harmed in the making of this podcast, but several egos may have been bruised during quality assurance reviews.

Happy Biotech - Audits, Inspections, and Dead Bodies in Closets

Tevard Biosciences CEO Daniel Fischer discusses how engineered suppressor tRNAs enable read-through of premature stop codons to restore full-length protein production in genetic diseases. Fischer, whose daughter has Dravet syndrome, covers the company's lead programs in dilated cardiomyopathy and DMD, advantages over traditional gene therapy approaches, and the path to human proof-of-concept.

Tevard CEO Sees Hope for HIs Daughter In His Company's tRNA Platform

From three-ply CRFs to three dudes and a compound, Doris Sánchez joins Suus and Micah for a candid tour of biotech’s real backstage: why passion (and sane meeting habits) matter, how consulting buys back your time, and the wild CRA tale that arrived with a black rose and a half-smoked cigarette. We also swap myth-busting takes on “Big Pharma,” burnout, and a foodie detour to Boston’s La Bodega.

Black Roses, Paper CRFs & the Drama of Doing Good

BUFFALO, NY — September 4, 2025 — A new #research perspective was #published  in Volume 17, Issue 8 of Aging (Aging-US) on August 16, 2025, titled “Age-related diseases as a testbed for anti-aging therapeutics: the case of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.”

In this research perspective, Alex Zhavoronkov, Dominika Wilczok, Feng Ren, and Fedor Galkin, from Insilico Medicine, Buck Institute for Research on Aging, and Duke University, propose a new method to evaluate age-related diseases based on how closely they align with the biological processes of aging. Their analysis shows that idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a progressive lung condition, is one of the diseases most strongly associated with aging. This makes IPF a promising model for testing new anti-aging therapies with the potential to treat multiple age-related conditions.

“This perspective explores how aging-related diseases (ARDs) can serve as experimental platforms for discovering new geroprotective interventions.”

While many age-related diseases are used as models for aging research, not all accurately reflect the biology of aging. To address this, the authors developed a scoring system that measures how closely a disease is connected to the key hallmarks of aging, such as inflammation, genetic instability, and impaired cellular repair. Using this system, they evaluated 13 common age-related diseases and found that IPF had a particularly high overlap with aging biology.

IPF is a chronic disease that causes scarring in the lungs and a rapid decline in lung function. In contrast to the gradual loss of function seen in normal aging, IPF progresses more than five times faster. The authors highlight that IPF shares nearly all of the biological features associated with aging. These similarities make IPF a strong candidate for studying aging and testing therapies that target its underlying causes.

The authors also discuss different therapies currently being developed for IPF that are also designed to address aging itself. These include drugs that clear senescent cells, activate telomerase to maintain chromosome health, or repair damaged signaling between cells. Some of these treatments, such as senolytic combinations and AI-discovered compounds like rentosertib, are already showing early promise in preclinical or clinical trials.

In addition, the authors point out that IPF’s fast progression and clearly measurable outcomes offer an advantage for clinical testing. If a therapy proves effective in IPF, it may also be useful for other conditions that share similar aging-related mechanisms, including diabetes, arthritis, and heart disease. This approach could accelerate drug development and reduce costs by focusing on therapies that target shared biological pathways.

Overall, this perspective supports a shift in pharmaceutical research toward treating aging as an underlying cause of many chronic diseases. By positioning IPF as a model for aging-related drug development, the authors propose a strategic pathway for testing and expanding anti-aging therapies across a wide range of health conditions.

DOI - https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.206301

Corresponding author - Alex Zhavoronkov – alex@insilico.com

Video short - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5ur7itzvSI

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Aging (Aging-US)

Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Identified as a Model for Anti-Aging Drug Development

What makes a biotech-CRO partnership truly work? Claire Riches, VP, Clinical Solutions, Citeline, and Matt Simmons, Senior Director, Oncology Strategy, IQVIA Biotech, share the secrets behind winning biotech-CRO partnerships, covering collaboration, transparent budgeting, regulatory navigation, and recruitment strategies, with essential insights to help biotechs succeed from their first RFP to global trials.

View the video series and find out more information here: https://www.citeline.com/biotech

Drive Early CRO Engagement to Optimize Funding, Trial Design, and Recruitment in Biotech

Cereno Scientific CEO Sten Sörensen discusses how his company is repurposing a 60-year-old epilepsy drug as a potential game-changer for pulmonary arterial hypertension and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Learn about their promising Phase IIa results that showed improved heart function and reduced mortality risk, the FDA fast track designation they recently received, and their strategy for advancing two rare disease programs toward pivotal trials. A fascinating look at drug repurposing, epigenetic modulation, and the challenges of developing therapies for high unmet need patient populations.

Cereno Scientific Turns To Old Drug For Rare Cardiopulmonary Diseases

Join host David Wild as he speaks with Stacie Bell, chief clinical research officer at Lupus Therapeutics, about the dramatic transformation happening in lupus drug development. From a field once avoided by pharma companies to one generating unprecedented excitement, Bell discusses how her organization's 62-center network is revolutionizing clinical trials through patient engagement and scientific innovation.
 
Learn about promising oral therapies, Genentech's cancer drug Gazyva under FDA review for lupus nephritis, cell therapy approaches offering potential long-term remission and how combination treatments may become the new standard. Bell shares insights on overcoming clinical trial barriers, advancing biomarker research and ensuring representative participation from lupus communities.
 
A must-listen for anyone interested in autoimmune disease research, clinical development innovation, and patient-centered drug development.

Lupus Clinical Development Enters a New Era of Innovation

Biotech funding is tougher than ever, but some companies still win big. Join Claire Riches, VP, Clinical Solutions, Citeline and Alistair McDonald, CEO of Worldwide Clinical Trials as they reveal insider strategies for securing investors, navigating partnerships, and turning innovative science into real-world success.

View the video series and find out more information here: https://www.citeline.com/biotech

Winning Biotech Investors Through Strategic Partnerships and Trial Innovation

After two of the toughest years in biotech history, are we finally seeing a turnaround? EY's Arda Ural discusses the long-awaited recovery in biotech IPOs, the evolving capital markets landscape and how tariffs and Trump RX are reshaping biopharma supply chains.
 
In this wide-ranging conversation, Ural unpacks the three key factors driving IPO recovery — Fed rate cuts, improving valuations, and reduced macro uncertainty — while sharing hard data on what's actually working in 2024. He explains why platforms without products are struggling to raise venture capital, how the bid-ask spread in M&A deals reflects ongoing valuation disagreements and why China's emergence as a competitor in novel drug development represents a fundamental shift for the industry.
 
Whether you're navigating early-stage financing, preparing for an IPO, or planning strategic transactions, this episode delivers actionable insights on capital markets, policy impacts and the fundamentals that will determine who succeeds in the next phase of biotech innovation.

EY's Arda Ural on IPOs, Financial Markets and Tarrifs

Citeline places biopharma and medical device professionals, and those who focus on these industries, at the forefront of knowledge and insight, by providing the perfect combination of news and information together with penetrating insight and analysis. Citeline is a leader in the field of healthcare industry information.

Aging-US is dedicated to advancing our understanding of the biological mechanisms that drive aging and the development of age-related diseases. Our mission is to serve as a platform for high-quality research that uncovers the cellular, molecular, and systemic processes underlying aging, and translates these insights into strategies to extend healthspan and delay the onset of chronic disease.

Read about the Aging (Aging-US) Scientific Integrity Process: https://aging-us.com/scientific-integrity

New tracks tagged #Drugdevelopment