October 26, 2025, the Cell and Gene Therapy Frontier Forum of the 10th China BioMed Innovation and Investment Conference (CBIIC) was successfully held in Nanjing. The forum was hosted by BAI Li, Vice-Chairman & Secretary-General of the Cell and Gene Therapy Specialty Committee of China Pharmaceutical Innovation and Research Development Association (PhIRDA), Professor of University of Science and Technology of China. Guests at the forum conducted in-depth discussions and exchanges around the latest scientific research progress and industrial opportunities.

From the perspective of the Cell and Gene Therapy Specialty Committee of PhIRDA, Academician TIAN Zhigang, Director of Institute of Immunology, University of Science and Technology of China, delivered a keynote report themed “Synthetic Immunology-drived NK Cell Therapy”. He analyzed the current challenges and future development trends of NK cell immunotherapy, pointing out that the key to future competition lies in target identification and intelligent genetic circuit design. He emphasized the important significance and value of synthetic immunology in achieving precise and controllable cell therapy. In addition, he shared his team's breakthroughs in NK cell expansion, receptor modification and logic gating technology, as well as the important progress made by related products in clinical trials for tumors and autoimmune diseases.

YANG Hui, Vice-Chairman of the Cell and Gene Therapy Specialty Committee of PhIRDA,, Director of Gene Therapy Center, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, delivered a report on “Development of Multiplex Gene Editing Tools for Universal Immune Cell Therapy”. He introduced the key requirements and challenges of multiplex gene editing in universal immune cell therapy. He noted that a new, independently controllable and more diversified base-editing system has been successfully developed. Using this system, multiplex gene editing technologies can be established to simultaneously target and knock out multiple key genes, enabling successful applications in autoimmune diseases, malignant tumors and other indications.

LI Zonghai, Chairman of the Board, CEO of CARsgen Therapeutics, delivered a keynote report entitled “Key Challenges and Countermeasures in the Development of CAR-T Cell Therapy”. He reviewed the clinical progress of CAR-T in hematological malignancies and solid tumors, addressed the challenges related to targets, tumor microenvironment and delivery faced in solid tumor treatment, and shared clinical explorations including CAR-T combined with small-molecule drugs or local therapy, early-line administration, as well as data from the first randomized controlled clinical trial of CAR-T for solid tumors. Regarding allogeneic “off-the-shelf” CAR-T, he emphasized the importance of anti-rejection strategies and manufacturing accessibility, and reported preliminary observations from several early-stage clinical trials.

CHANG Nannan, Managing Director, GL Ventures, delivered a keynote speech themed “Driving Value Creation in CGT through Technological Innovation”. From an investment perspective, he provided an in-depth analysis of technological innovation and investment trends in the CGT sector, stressing that regulatory policies, talent repatriation, capital investment and technological breakthroughs have jointly driven the rapid development of China’s CGT industry. He highlighted the potential of nucleic acid delivery, extrahepatic targeting of mRNA/small nucleic acids, new strategies combined with cell therapy, as well as stem cells in non-oncological indications such as central nervous system and metabolic diseases.

The final panel of the forum was moderated by JIN Jieping, Director of NewAlliance Capital. The panelists included CHEN Jia, Vice-Chairman of the Cell and Gene Therapy Specialty Committee of PhIRDA, Tenured Professor and Principal Investigator, School of Life Science and Technology, Shanghai Tech University; CHEN Jianhua, Deputy Director of the Department of Medical Oncology, Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University; LU Xin’an, Founder & CMO of IMUNOPHARM Technology Co., Ltd. Founder & CEO of Beijing Cygenta Biotech Co., Ltd. and SUN Zhigang, Vice President & Chief Quality Officer, Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. Representing diverse fields spanning basic research, clinical medicine, pharmaceutical industry, and quality regulation, the panelists engaged in in-depth exchanges on the topic of “From Innovation Hub to Global Leadership: Building CGT Competitiveness”. Panelists agreed that China holds distinct advantages in clinical resources, engineering capabilities, and policy support. Looking ahead, they emphasized the need to strengthen original innovation, improve quality systems, and promote deep integration of industry, academia, research, and medical practice to enhance global competitiveness and drive high-quality development of the entire biomedical industry.

In recent years, with the continuous advancement of cutting-edge technologies such as molecular biology and genomics, gene and cell therapy has achieved multiple breakthroughs, with a rapid increase in clinical pipelines, and has become one of the most concerned and promising pharmaceutical fields in the world.