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PRESS RELEASE
22 January 2025
Press Release
Media Contacts:
IB Communications
Phacilitate Awards Katherine High with the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award at the Advanced Therapies Awards Ceremony in Dallas
Award celebrates Dr. High's foundational work in the gene therapy space, from her pioneering clinical work with AAVs to her entrepreneurial leadership in the development of multiple commercial therapies
London, UK, January 22, 2025 – Phacilitate, a leading brand that connects advanced therapies industry leaders through inspiring conferences, vibrant communities and market intelligence, today presented Katherine A. High, M.D. with its prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award for 2025. Dr. High, who is now President of Therapeutics at AskBio, has had a distinguished career from her foundational early academic work at University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, University of Pennsylvania, and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia through the co-founding of Spark Therapeutics, where as Chief Scientific Officer/Head of R&D she led the clinical development of two commercially approved gene therapies.
With more than 25 approved cell and gene therapies (CGTs), the space is experiencing an acceleration due to promising clinical progress, one of the challenges that Dr. High has prioritized during her remarkable career.
"When we began clinical investigation in gene therapies, we started to uncover adverse events that had not been predicted by studies in animals that [forced us to] go back to the lab and try to develop a solution to the problem that we had uncovered. I'm particularly proud that a number of the solutions that... we developed are general solutions that have stood the test of time," said Dr. High. “Now those kinds of problems have been solved, which took literally years, there are so many more things that can be done. We are getting better and better vectors, even for AAV. On top of that, there are great strides being made in gene editing. There are many things to be excited about in gene therapy now."
Among Dr High’s career highlights:
as Director of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s (CHOP) Center for Cellular and Molecular Therapeutics and then co-founder, president, and chief scientific officer of Spark Therapeutics, oversaw the development of LUXTURNA (voretigene neparvovec-rzyl), the first approved gene therapy product for an inherited vision disease
led successful early clinical studies for BEQVEZ (fidanacogene elaparvovec-dzkt), now an approved gene therapy for hemophilia B
served on multiple advisory and steering committees for National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) projects
served as president of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT)
awarded CHOP Gold Medal and Sanford Lorraine Cross Award, and elected to the US National Academy of Sciences
currently serving on the board of CRISPR Therapeutics, which developed CASGEVY (exagamglogene autotemcel) for sickle cell disease, the first FDA-approved gene editing product
current President of Therapeutics at Asklepios BioPharmaceuticals (AskBio)
“The gene therapy space has moved very quickly from concept to cured patients, and without Dr. High’s commitment to overcoming both technical and clinical obstacles over three decades, countless patients would still be suffering from disease that are treatable today,” said Ryan Leahy, Vice President of Research and Head of Content at Phacilitate. “Our extremely promising future rests on the shoulders of her work, past and present.”
The Lifetime Achievement Award was formally presented to Dr High at the organization’s third annual Advanced Therapies Awards, which takes place in Dallas, Texas today, January 22, 2025.
For information about the awards ceremony and other Phacilitate initiatives, visit the Phacilitate website: www.phacilitate.com
About the Advanced Therapies Awards
The Advanced Therapies Awards are the only awards celebration to honor progress and success in advanced therapies. The event, hosted as part of Advanced Therapies Week, awards actors within the advanced therapies industry for innovation, collaboration and translation, with awards dedicated to sustainability, DE&I and disruptors, just to name a few.
The Lifetime Achievement Award is also annually presented to a Phacilitate Member who has achieved a lifetime of significant contributions to the field of gene and cell therapy. Previous winners include Dr. Carl June of the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania (2023) and Dr. Luigi Naldini of the San Raffaele Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy (2024).
To find out more, visit: https://advancedtherapiesawards.phacilitate.com
About Advanced Therapies Week
Advanced Therapies Week was created for knowledge sharing, relationship building and deal making. For 20 years the event has been home to the largest marketplace for tools and tech. Advanced Therapies Week is dedicated to helping biotech progress on their commercialization journey, as well as pushing the industry one step closer to delivering life-changing treatments to patients. The event is about creating moments of natural connection for the advanced therapies industry that spark long-lasting relationships, stretching far beyond the transactional.
To find out more, visit: https://advancedtherapiesweek.phacilitate.com
About Phacilitate
Phacilitate exists to help biotech progress on their commercialization journey, as well as to push the industry one step closer to delivering more life-changing treatments to patients. Phacilitate connects industry leaders through inspiring conferences, vibrant communities, and market intelligence. Phacilitate organizes conferences and networking events in both Europe and the US. These provide a venue for the advanced therapies sector seeking the commercialization of global therapies, and a global audience expanding further into the various markets worldwide.
Phacilitate also provides market insights and resources to the advanced therapies industry. These market insights have specific focuses on industry insights that range from trials, finance and investment, regulation, manufacturing, and specific therapeutic techniques.
Find out more, visit: www.phacilitate.com