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Panelists say AAV manufacturing, funding cuts and workforce are central barriers to scaling gene therapies
Summary
Industry leaders at a Columbus Metropolitan Club forum discussed technical challenges in producing AAV gene therapies at scale, steps companies are taking to increase yield, and concern about federal research funding declines affecting the innovation pipeline.
Executives and investors on a Columbus Metropolitan Club panel described both scientific progress and practical obstacles to scaling gene‑therapy production and bringing treatments to patients.
“Scaling up adeno associated viruses is quite challenging,” said Frank Obobo, vice president of process development at Forge Biologics, describing process development and the company’s move to GMP manufacturing for AAV vectors. He added that Forge has grown its workforce and served more than 50 clients while expanding capacity.
Obobo said the company has worked on process improvements to increase output and cited a platform improvement that the panel described as delivering “a 20x improvement over the titers we were seeing,” meaning more doses per production batch.
Panelists highlighted how manufacturing scale affects patient access and cost. “Those are ways we think those could, drive down, could contribute to driving down costs,” Obobo said of yield improvements.
Acquisition and investment were discussed as ways to secure long‑term capacity. Obobo said Forge was acquired by Ajinomoto in the fourth quarter of 2023, which he and other panelists said provides access to global scale‑up expertise and longer planning horizons.
At the same time, panelists expressed concern about research funding. “I worry about what it will do to the pipeline of PhDs and other scientists coming up,” said Dr. Rodino Claypack, referencing emails she has heard from faculty about funding uncertainty. Arandi de Silva at Drive Capital called the rescission of federal research grants “a terrible and sobering development” and said it is causing anxiety among academics and early‑stage companies.
Investor guidance for startups in the current environment was practical: preserve runway, focus on mission‑critical milestones and be cautious about near‑term fundraising expectations, panelists said.
Panelists also discussed workforce development and training needs, including the role of universities and JobsOhio programs to help build regulatory, process development and supply‑chain expertise locally.
The session closed with advice for students: pursue internships, seek mentorship and consider the range of careers that training in science can enable.
No formal votes or policy actions were taken at the forum.
