Gene therapy pioneer Dr. James Wilson shared his hope for the future of cell and gene therapy at Life Sciences Pennsylvania’s “Life Sciences Future” conference in King of Prussia, writes John George for Philadelphia Business Journal.

Wilson, director of the gene therapy program at the University of Pennsylvania, predicts a brighter future despite the current lack of investment capital.

“As an early mentor told me, this is a marathon, not a sprint,” Wilson said. “We’re definitely in a down cycle, but we’ve had down cycles before.”

He explained that after some key advancements including the first U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for a gene therapy for an inherited disease and the development of the first CAR T cell therapy, there was a rush of investment money.

Unfortunately, not all were good investments and many of the cell and gene therapy companies didn’t have proven business models.

Now there is a fear of risky investments, which has led to many layoffs in the sector. Many life sciences companies are also choosing to limit their research focus.

Still though he remains optimistic because all the stakeholders are coming together to find a solution for the high cost of developing these therapies.

Read more about what Dr. James Wilson said about the future of cell and gene therapy in King of Prussia in the Philadelphia Business Journal.

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