Mitchell Finer to Speak at Cell & Gene Therapy Feb 20-21, 2014 in San Diego, CA

San Diego, CA, December 06, 2013 --(PR.com)-- Mitchell Finer, Chief Scientific Officer of bluebird bio, will give a featured presentation on the topic of cell and gene therapy for rare diseases at the Inaugural Cell and Gene Therapy Conference on February 20-21, 2014 in San Diego, CA by GTC.

bluebird bio is a clinical-stage company committed to developing potentially transformative gene therapies for severe genetic and orphan diseases. bluebird bio has two clinical-stage programs in development. The most advanced product candidate, Lenti-D, is in a recently-initiated phase 2/3 study for the treatment of childhood cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy (CCALD), a rare, hereditary neurological disorder affecting young boys. The next most advanced product candidate, LentiGlobin, is currently in a phase 1/2 study in France for the treatment of beta-thalassemia major and severe sickle cell disease. A second phase 1/2 study with LentiGlobin in the United States has been initiated for the treatment of beta-thalassemia major. bluebird bio also has an early-stage chimeric antigen receptor-modified T cell (CAR-T) program for oncology in partnership with Celgene Corporation (source: bluebird bio, inc.)

Treatment of disease using cell and gene therapy is now a reality. With emerging technologies and new clinical trials being developed and launched at a growing rate, it is important to stay up-to-date with the evolving regulatory challenges and pre-clinical requirements for drug development and discovery. This meeting brings together experts from industry and academia to discuss the development and applications of cell and gene therapy as well as strategies and challenges for commercialization.

This conference is also part of the Future Biotech Summit 2014, which consists of this conference, and two other additional co-located conferences:
Cell & Gene Therapy
2nd Orphan Drugs Research & Commercialization
Ubiquitin Research & Drug Discovery

For more information, please visit www.gtcbio.com