Aaron Winkler
Senior Scientific Director, Immune Tolerance Lead Pfizer
Aaron R. Winkler is a globally recognized immunologist and biopharmaceutical leader whose 35-year career spans start-ups, academia, and 25 years at Pfizer. He combines deep scientific insight with proven, enterprise-level leadership in translational medicine, drug discovery, and strategic partnering.
Seminars
Wednesday 24th March 2027
Panel Discussion: Evaluating What Big Pharma & Investors Want to See in Antigen-Specific Immune Tolerance to Understand the Evidence Needed to Unlock Partnership & Investment
1:30 pm
Review current levels of pharma and investor engagement with antigen-specific approaches to identify what would strengthen confidence in the space and positioning the field to attract deeper investment going forward.
- Understand what Big Pharma considers a commercially attractive indication and how they come to this decision to inform biotechs of what steps can support successful commercialization
- Discussing the type of data and evidence pharma and investors have indicated they want to see to clarify the gap between what is currently available and what may be expected, and explore how early-stage programs can prepare for this
- Considering how indication choice and commercial viability factor into investment decisions, to weigh biological rationale against practical, market-driven considerations, and inform how programs might frame their own value proposition
Thursday 25th March 2027
Roundtable Discussion: How Antigen-Specific Approaches can be Positioned as a Prophylactic Measure as Well as a Therapeutic Cure
1:00 pm
- Which autoimmune diseases are best suited for the use of antigen-specific therapy once a patient has been diagnosed
- Debate whether the field should prioritize preventing disease in at-risk individuals (Stage 1-2) versus treating established disease (Stage 3)
- Understand why prophylactic clinical trials are challenging (slow enrollment, long duration, high costs) but may offer the best path to demonstrating tolerance efficacy
- Learn from teplizumab’s success as a preventive therapy that delays type 1 diabetes onset by two years
