Fueling the Future of Gene Therapies with Manufacturing Innovation

Gene therapy manufacturing is complex, resource-intensive, and time-sensitive — every day counts for developers and their patients. As the industry grows to address more diseases and broader patient populations, manufacturing must keep pace with these expanding needs.

Innovative adeno-associated virus (AAV) manufacturing platforms can help meet these challenges, offering solutions for faster, potentially safer, and more efficient AAV production.

Forge’s FUEL™ AAV manufacturing platform was designed to meet these challenges, offering innovative solutions for faster, potentially safer, and more efficient AAV production. Powered by proprietary technologies—including Forge’s new pEMBR 2.0™ Ad Helper plasmid, new modified rep/caps, and its trusted HEK293 suspension Ignition Cells™—FUEL™ can boost productivity compared to industry standard.

This webinar explores how molecular and technical innovations can enhance AAV manufacturing and highlights the impressive productivity gains that can be achieved.

Register for this webinar today to discover how innovative AAV platform manufacturing technologies are driving faster, safer and more efficient manufacturing solutions for gene therapies.

Speakers

David Dismuke, PhD, Chief Technical Officer, Forge Biologics

Dr. David Dismuke serves as Chief Technical Officer and came to Forge Biologics with nearly 20 years of experience in large-scale manufacturing. He is an authority in the bioprocessing and design of gene therapy vectors and has led CMC operations in the manufacturing of pre-clinical and clinical-grade AAV vectors for more than 10 years.

Prior to joining Forge, Dr. Dismuke was the Vice President of Manufacturing at StrideBio where he directed the development of manufacturing and analytical processes for AAV vectors that utilize novel capsids. In addition, he led the design of therapeutic and reporter transgenes and innovative molecular enhancements to improve AAV production and therapeutic function.

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He also served as Head of Vector Production at Voyager Therapeutics, where he led teams in the manufacturing and analytical testing of AAV using the baculovirus/Sf9 production system. Prior to Voyager, Dr. Dismuke was Director of the UNC Vector Core, where he oversaw GMP operations as well as the production of research-grade vectors.

He earned his PhD from Vanderbilt University, focusing on the molecular biology and lifecycle of HIV-1, and conducted postdoctoral research at UNC Chapel Hill.

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Frank Agbogbo, PhD, Vice President, Process Development, Forge Biologics

Dr. Frank Agbogbo is Vice President of Process Development at Forge Biologics. He has nearly 20 years of experience in the industry. Previously, Dr. Agbogbo was Senior Director of Process Development at Cytovance Biologics where he oversaw cell line development, cell culture, strain development and fermentation.

He was at Cytovance for over seven years where he took increasing responsibilities from Director of Fermentation to Director of Process Development with the supervision of the Upstream and Downstream teams. Prior to Cytovance, Dr. Agbogbo was the Application Technology Manager at Mascoma Corporation where he contributed to the launch of two commercial products. He was also a Principal Scientist at ICM, Inc. and a Scientist at Novozymes.

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Dr. Agbogbo’s experience includes process development, Design of Experiments (DoE), process optimization, process characterization and scale-up from R&D to manufacturing (cGMP and non-cGMP). He was co-chair at scientific conferences such as the Society for Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology Annual Meeting (SIMB) and Recent Advances in Fermentation Technology (RAFT) on many topics, including process optimization, scale-up, DoE, process characterization, downstream development and process analytical technologies.

He has co-authored over 15 peer-reviewed publications and contributed to five patents. Dr. Agbogbo earned a BS in Chemical Engineering from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Texas A&M University, and an MBA with a certificate in Entrepreneurship from the Price College of Business, Oklahoma University.

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Linas Padegimas, PhD, Senior Director, R&D, Forge Biologics

Dr. Linas Padegimas is the Senior Director of Molecular Development at Forge Biologics where he brings over 25 years of experience in molecular biology and gene therapy. Since joining Forge in May 2022, he has led Forge’s research and development team, spanning molecular and technical development. Before Forge, Linas served as Senior Director of Product Development at Abeona Therapeutics, where he spearheaded innovations in genetic medicine for nearly seven years.

Earlier, at Copernicus Therapeutics, he directed molecular biology teams. Linas honed his expertise in synthetic micro-chromosome technology at Athersys, where he also optimized novel gene activation and drug screening platforms. His academic foundation includes a postdoctoral tenure at Mississippi State University, where he cloned and characterized antiviral and promoter genes. A scientist driven by innovation; Linas is passionate about translating complex molecular technologies into transformative therapies.

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