Diana M. Brainard

AlloVir (formerly ViraCyte), founded in 2013 by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine’s Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, is the leader in the development of novel cell therapies with a focus on restoring natural T-cell immunity against life-threatening virus-associated diseases in patients with severely weakened immune systems. The company’s technology platforms deliver commercially scalable solutions by leveraging off-the-shelf, allogeneic, multi-virus specific T-cells targeting devastating viral pathogens for immunocompromised patients under viral attack. AlloVir’s technology and manufacturing process enables the potential for the treatment and/or prevention of up to six devastating viruses with its lead allogeneic product, Viralym-M (ALVR105), and allows potentially hundreds of patients to be treated with virus-specific T-cells manufactured from a single donor, using a proprietary cell selection strategy to match the company’s bank of third-party donor-derived cell lines to patients. AlloVir is advancing multiple mid- and late-stage clinical trials across its product portfolio.

Since 1987, Gilead Sciences has worked to discover, develop and commercialize medications to advance the care of patients suffering from life-threatening diseases in areas of unmet medical need. In 25 years, Gilead has become a leading biopharmaceutical company with a portfolio of 15 marketed products, a growing pipeline of investigational drugs and approximately 5,000 employees in offices across four continents. Gilead's therapeutic areas of focus include HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, serious respiratory, cardiovascular, and metabolic conditions, cancer and inflammation