Explore the Agenda

8:00 am Registration & Coffee

8:50 am Chair’s Opening Remarks

Aligning Employer & Payer Strategies to Strengthen Sustainable Coverage

9:00 am Reimagining Federal Policy Solutions for Employer Coverage of High- Cost Advanced Therapies

Executive Director, Partnership for Employer Sponsored Coverage
  • Understanding how employer funded plans approach coverage, financial risk and policy decisions for high-cost cell and gene therapies
  • Identifying federal policy options that could help stabilize employer risk exposure, including new payment models, reinsurance approaches, and regulatory pathways for value-based arrangements
  • Exploring how federal policy can enable sustainable coverage of advanced therapies while protecting employer plan affordability and patient access

9:30 am Navigating Coverage Decisions for Cell & Gene Therapies: A Payer Perspective

Managing Director, Legislative and Regulatory Policy, Blue Cross & Blue Shield Association
  • Balancing clinical evidence standards, financial risk and member access
  • Supporting employer evaluation of high-cost therapies, including the use of carveouts, reinsurance, and care management strategies.
  • Assessing differences between large and small employer groups and their sensitivity to single high-cost claims

10:00 am Morning Break & Networking

Strengthening Access Readiness for Upcoming Launches Across Indications Beyond Oncology & Rare Disease

11:00 am Navigating Access & Policy Barriers for the Next Generation of Cell & Gene Therapies

Vice President, Market Access & Head of Market Access, Trade & Distribution, Mesoblast Ltd.
Senior Director, US Public Policy , Eli Lilly & Co.
  • Addressing access obstacles and new considerations in emerging indications to expand CAR‑T cell therapy and gene therapy delivery beyond oncology and smaller indications
  • Policy challenges and opportunities to broaden treatment reach across the US outside major academic centres and improving patient access pathways
  • Identifying key areas of reimbursement and access policy shaping that will enable future patients to receive innovative therapies

11:45 am Evolving Access Pathways for Cell & Gene Therapies in Parkinson’s Disease

Senior Director, Cell & Gene Therapy Global Market Access Lead, Bayer
  • Opportunities and challenges in coding, coverage, reimbursement, and policy for cell and gene therapies in a common neurodegenerative disease
  • Lessons from existing payment models and priorities to enable sustainable access in the future

12:15 pm Lunch Break & Networking

Applying Real‑World Launch Insights to Improve Coverage Pathways & Patient Adoption

1:15 pm Building Payer Confidence from Prelaunch to Year One

Director, Government Account, MACs, MCD, VA/DOD, Neurotech Pharmaceuticals
  • Defining the economic case early to align pricing with payer value expectations
  • Supporting diverse practice settings with financial pathways that reduce provider risk
  • Using innovative ideas for first year payment support to accelerate early Medicare claims and speed up provider confidence

1:45 pm Case Study: Advancing Patient Access Through Early Engagement with Payers & the Cell & Gene Therapy Access Model

Vice President, Market Access, Advocacy & Policy, Genetix Biotherapeutics
  • Engaging payers early to educate on the product and disease state while generating appropriate outcomes to support contracting
  • Building evidence of value to drive coverage while addressing reimbursement challenges for qualified treatment centres
  • Showcasing substantial growth in patient adoption over two years, and outlining challenges that remain

2:15 pm Afternoon Break & Networking

Navigating Credentialing & Payment Complexity to Support Sustainable Cell & Gene Therapy Access

3:00 pm Streamlining Out-of-State Medicaid Provider Credentialing to Accelerate Cell & Gene Therapy Access

Director, US Policy, Alliance for Regenerative Medicine
  • Highlighting how fragmented state credentialing rules create delays for patients receiving care out-of-state
  • Outlining practical, scalable recommendations to streamline Medicaid provider credentialing for children and adults who need timely access to specialist‑delivered therapies
  • Next steps for implementing the Accelerating Kids Access to Care Act, recently passed by Congress

3:30 pm Advancing Sustainable Payment Strategies for Cell & Gene Therapies

Executive Director & Head of Reimbursement Policy & Government Affairs, Gilead Sciences
  • Creating flexible payment structures that reduce upfront burden and support broader patient access
  • Applying payment approaches to align reimbursement with outcomes and essential procedural steps
  • Leveraging Medicaid to carve out policies to secure additional rebates and maintain access in financially constrained environments

4:00 pm End of Conference Day Two