CATUG Biotechnology will attend BioPharma Cell & Gene Therapy Nexus 2026 on November 11–12, 2026 (U.S. local dates), at Crowne Plaza San Diego Mission Valley in San Diego, California. The meeting's theme is From Cells to Cures, with sessions spanning novel and emerging modalities, manufacturing and CMC, non-viral delivery, immune cell engineering, and nucleic acid therapeutics. CATUG will be on site at Booth 4.
In vivo immune-cell reprogramming is moving from concept toward clinical material that can be evaluated under controlled conditions. The routes are not the same. Viral vectors can support longer-lived CAR expression, with questions around integration and persistence. mRNA-LNP and other non-viral approaches more often give transient expression: dosing schedules are more flexible, but process and analytical design still have to account for redosing, formulation immunogenicity, and whether delivery holds up after repeat exposure. Surface targeting is not the same as productive intracellular transfection and functional CAR expression. Ligand density, conjugation integrity, particle size, and encapsulation need to be read together with target-cell delivery and expression. The discussion is shifting from whether a payload can be delivered to whether it can be produced consistently and assessed with clear quality criteria.
At the booth, conversations can stay concrete: plasmid DNA and RNA drug substance, LNP/tLNP preparation and conjugation, analytical characterization, and GMP manufacturing of clinical samples. VHH conjugation is one process option CATUG can support. CATUG's publicly stated RNA production scale is mg–100 g.
Presentation
Mitchell Sugii, MBA | International Affairs Department, CATUG
Title: From Payload to Patient: Advancing RNA-Based Therapeutics and In Vivo CAR-T from R&D to Phase I/II and Beyond Through a Single Partner
Speaker bio
Mitchell Sugii, MBA, is a Business Development Manager at CATUG with a foundation in mRNA process development and manufacturing. During four years at TriLink BioTechnologies, he developed and scaled mRNA processes that carried therapeutic programs from early R&D and preclinical studies through late-stage manufacturing campaigns for Phase 3 and beyond. Having seen firsthand what it takes to move RNA medicines from the bench to large-scale GMP production, Mitchell transitioned to business development to scale up and scale out his impact on the RNA therapeutics landscape. At CATUG, he partners with innovators advancing mRNA, circRNA, and LNP/tLNP programs, including in vivo CAR-T, from concept to clinic.
Teams bringing project questions to Booth 4 are welcome to meet the CATUG group on site.
Full agenda: nexus-conference.com/cgtn