PMWC - Precision Medicine World Conference

Reflecting on 23andMe: Key Lessons for Biotech In 2010, I mailed a tube of my saliva to a little startup called 23andMe, convinced I was witnessing a pivotal moment in personalized medicine. At the time, direct-to-consumer genetic testing represented a groundbreaking shift—placing genomic insights directly into the hands of consumers, democratizing healthcare information, and transforming our understanding of personal health risks. 23andMe embodied the promise of precision medicine accessible at scale, and as an early adopter, I eagerly awaited my results, convinced we stood at the threshold of a healthcare revolution. Fast forward to 2025: that same trailblazing company has filed for bankruptcy. It’s a jarring fall for a onetime Silicon Valley darling. How did we get from Innovation of the Year accolades to an implosion that has biotech founders and investors picking apart what went wrong? Here's an analysis of key factors that contributed to the company's downfall: -Overreliance on Data Monetization: 23andMe bet heavily on pharma partnerships, assuming genetic data would directly translate into viable therapies. The reality proved slower and costlier than expected, draining resources without clear returns. -Privacy and Trust Mismanagement: After the massive 2023 data breach affecting millions, consumer trust evaporated. For companies in genomics or health tech, data stewardship isn't optional—it's foundational. -Unsustainable Business Model: Once kit sales peaked, 23andMe struggled to pivot effectively to subscription-based models or other sustainable revenue streams. What can biotech and health-tech startups learn? -Diversify thoughtfully: Innovate beyond initial products without losing sight of your core competencies. -Prioritize data protection: Trust is your most precious asset—treat user data like gold. -Maintain transparency: Clearly communicate your business model, privacy practices, and strategic shifts. If you're concerned about your genetic data, now's the time to consider deleting your account and requesting destruction of your DNA samples. Under U.S. privacy laws, you still have rights, but acting promptly is key. The 23andMe saga is a stark reminder: innovation without strong foundations—ethical, scientific, and business—is unsustainable. As we shape PMWC 2026 (March 4-6), these lessons will guide our discussions on ensuring precision medicine grows securely and responsibly. You're welcome to share your thoughts or suggest other points worth discussing. pmwcintl.com #23andMe #Biotech #Genomics #HealthTech #DataPrivacy #PrecisionMedicine #PMWC25, #PMWC26 PMWC - Precision Medicine World Conference

Throwback Thursday! Our Chief Scientific Officer, Abigail McElhinny presented our latest data readout at PMWC - Precision Medicine World Conference! The results demonstrate strong performance?in detection of ovarian cancer?in the intended use population: women with nonspecific abdominal symptoms. Generated through a multi-omic approach to early cancer detection,?these?data?highlight?AOA’s potential to drive innovation in diagnostic tools for women’s health. ?? Ft: Anna Milik Jeter

Re The Urgent Need for Better Target Discovery I would say that blood cancers also need better targets ad CD19 is present on normal and tumor cells which means that CAR-T targeting CD19 are wiping out the patients B-cells for good - and we need those B-cells for viral infections ! Tal Behar

Thanks to Tal Behar and the PMWC team for a great few days of discussions and presentations. Special thanks to Stacie Calad-Thomson, Carlyn Crisostomo, and William Mayo for sharing their perspectives on challenges and future directions. Feel free to reach out if you have questions about the role of AI, data, and compute in the R&D process! #ArtificialIntelligence #AI #PMWC #pharma #biotech

Reflecting on an incredible experience at the Precision Medicine World Conference (PMWC) 2025! ? The conference was a deep dive into the latest advancements in cell & gene therapy, cancer immunotherapy, AI-driven precision medicine, & next-gen therapeutics. Some key highlights: ?? ?????????????? ???? ???????????? ?????????? ???? ???? & ?????????????????? ???????????????? Jensen Huang (CEO, NVIDIA) shared an exciting vision: AI will transform medicine, making doctors' jobs more efficient and enabling early disease prediction, rapid genomic analysis, and precision treatments tailored to individual patients. ?? ???????????????????? ?????? ???????????????????? ?????????????????? ?????? ???????? & ???????? ?????????????????? A thought-provoking panel featuring Dr. Robert Califf (former FDA Commissioner) tackled key challenges in translating scientific breakthroughs into clinical practice. Dr. Califf raised concerns about the slow integration of precision medicine into healthcare, emphasizing the need for better systems to improve patient access. ?? ?????????????????????????? ???? ???????????? ??????????????????????????: ???????? ???????????????? & ?????? ??-???????? ???????????????? A powerhouse session featuring Drew Weissman (Nobel Laureate, Penn Medicine) & Crystal Mackall (Stanford) covered some game-changing insights: mRNA technology is advancing beyond vaccines into gene therapy, CAR-T production, & autoimmune treatment. While CAR-T therapy remains inaccessible to many (only 20% receive it), off-the-shelf and in vivo-generated CAR-Ts could expand access. Cancer vaccines show promise but struggle in metastatic settings due to the tumor microenvironment (TME). Target discovery remains a challenge for solid tumors—multi-targeted CAR-Ts, bispecific antibodies, & AND-gated CARs may improve specificity. Scalability & affordability are critical to making these innovations widely available. ?? ?????????? ???????????????? ???????????????? ??????????????: ?? Next-gen delivery systems for gene therapies ?? Advances in allogeneic cell therapies & next generation ADCs ?? Clinical metagenomic sequencing for infectious disease diagnostics ?? Genome editing in precision therapeutics ?? Microbiome & viral associations with cancer ?? Cellular nanoparticle therapeutics and host-pathogen interactions in infectious disease management? ?? Addressing the pharmacogenomics landscape- applications, implementation and hurdles A huge thank you to Tal Behar for organizing such an insightful event & to Amy L. Gryshuk, PhD, Nanami Sumimoto, and the entire UCSF volunteer team for their amazing teamwork! Excited to see how these innovations will shape the future of medicine. Let’s keep the conversation going—what were your key takeaways from PMWC 2025? ?? #PMWC2025 #PrecisionMedicine #CancerImmunotherapy #mRNA #CARTCells?#AIinHealthcare #NGS #GenomicDiagnostics #InfectiousDisease #HostPathogenInteractions #Pharmacogenomics #Oncology #CellandGeneTherapy #DrugDiscovery

mRNA Meets CAR T: Expanding the Future of Cancer Therapy At PMWC 2025, we had the privilege of hosting a thought-provoking discussion on the evolving landscape of cancer immunotherapy, featuring Ira Mellman (Medici Therapeutics), Drew Weissman (Penn Medicine), and Crystal Mackall (Stanford University). Key takeaways from the panel: ?? mRNA Technology is Expanding Beyond Vaccines Originally developed for infectious diseases, mRNA is now being explored for gene therapy, CAR T-cell production, and autoimmune disease treatment. The ability to deliver genetic instructions directly to cells offers new possibilities for cancer therapies that are more scalable and cost-effective. ?? CAR T-Cell Therapy: From Breakthrough to Broader Access While CAR T therapy has transformed blood cancer treatment, only 20% of eligible patients receive it. Challenges remain in reducing cost, increasing accessibility, and integrating it into clinical practice. The future may lie in off-the-shelf or in vivo-generated CAR T therapies that eliminate the need for complex manufacturing. ?? Cancer Vaccines: The Next Frontier Personalized neoantigen vaccines are showing promise in preventing cancer recurrence but have struggled in treating metastatic disease. The tumor microenvironment (TME) plays a key role in limiting vaccine efficacy, emphasizing the need for combination approaches that include cell therapies. ?? The Urgent Need for Better Target Discovery Unlike blood cancers with well-defined targets like CD19, most solid tumors lack clear immunotherapy targets. Advances such as multi-targeted CAR-Ts and bispecific antibodies may help overcome this limitation. New approaches, like AND-gated CARs that activate only when two tumor markers are present, could also improve specificity and safety. ?? Scalability & Affordability Are Critical for the Future Many of today’s groundbreaking therapies remain out of reach due to cost and logistical barriers. The next wave of innovation must focus on reducing the reliance on expensive manufacturing, increasing accessibility, and developing regulatory frameworks that enable broader adoption. This discussion made it clear: mRNA and cell therapies are converging in ways that will redefine cancer treatment. The challenge now is ensuring these breakthroughs reach more patients, more effectively. Follow me for more insights from PMWC 2025’s groundbreaking discussions on the future of precision medicine. SAVE THE DATE FOR PMWC 2026 March 4-6, Santa Clara Convention center Early bird registration: https://lnkd.in/g9j9UnKS #PMWC25, #PMWC2025, #PMWC26 #CancerImmunotherapy #mRNA PMWC - Precision Medicine World Conference

Effective RNA transport into cells via highly porous biologically orthogonal nanoparticles, short description here:https://lnkd.in/ezY4BzYW With a focus on improving drug delivery, David Fairen-Jimenez PhD, and his company, Vector Bioscience Cambridge have carved out their corner of precision medicine with their platform that utilizes high-porosity?nanomaterials?to deliver targeted treatments with less toxicity. Fairen-Jimenez, professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Cambridge in the UK, spoke to BioPharm International??during the PMWC - Precision Medicine World Conference to provide an overview of the company's technology and platform. "We have a family of materials...essentially some polymeric nanoparticles that are called porous coordination polymers, which are extremely porous materials. In a single gram of material—we're talking about several 1000s of square meters—these materials can encapsulate different drug molecules inside the porosity, while we have a very, very tiny amount of vehicle, and this means the toxic effects of these vehicles are really, really low," Fairen-Jimenez said. The company's pipeline is focused on oncology, where they are currently exploring at least seven molecules, two of which have advanced to in vivo studies in pancreatic and breast cancer. "We have a huge amount of flexibility that is very difficult to reproduce with other types of nanoparticles," he said. "On the one hand, we have been able to... encapsulate molecules so we have a slow release for one month, for example, inside the body. We have other examples where we have been able to put RNA molecules to knock down the expression of proteins, and that's a great advantage against any other technology. The bottleneck for RNA therapies, many times, is the transport of these RNAs inside the cells, outside of the lysosomes. So being able to really unlock the potential of these RNAs has been great." #antibody #adc #rna #therapuetic #mRNA #drugdelivery #pmwc2025

At #PMWC25, I moderated a panel "How to Implement AI for Faster Readouts of Clinical Trials" with Brandon Allgood of Parabilis Medicines, Julian Hong of University of California, San Francisco and Michiel JM Niesen of nference. How are LLMs and AI Agents helping to accelerate clinical trial results? How do we avoid bias and can we trust the results? How does Deep Seek affect the AI healthcare environment? What's the regulatory landscape for AI in drug development? Yale Cancer Center Tal Behar PMWC - Precision Medicine World Conference https://lnkd.in/eRRVWibj

Highlights from PMWC - Precision Medicine World Conference #PWMC25 with Tillman Pearce, MD and Carlos Ceballos. Join us next year at the Santa Clara Convention Center alongside Tal Behar, Gadi Behar and team. #precisionmedicine #WholeGenomeSequencing #PathogenDetection #AIinHealthcare #MultiOmics #DrugDiscovery

PointHealth AI has finished our first day at the PMWC - Precision Medicine World Conference. Come see us tomorrow when Rachel Gollub presents our AI Model at Showcase Track 1 at 11:15am PT. Can't wait to see you!