AskBio Announces 5 Presentations at the European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ESGCT) 33rd Annual Congress

Durham, N.C., Oct. 22, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

• Five poster presentations will highlight exciting progress in AskBio’s adeno-associated virus (AAV) manufacturing technologies 

AskBio Inc. (AskBio), a gene therapy company wholly owned and independently operated as a subsidiary of Bayer AG, and its subsidiary Viralgen Vector Core S.L.U. (Viralgen) will deliver five presentations offering insights into advancements in manufacturing technologies of adeno-associated virus (AAV) therapies for a range of diseases, at the European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ESGCT) 33rd Annual Congress taking place October 27–30, 2026, in Hamburg, Germany. 

“ESGCT is one of the defining scientific meetings for the global cell and gene therapy community, and at AskBio we are proud to continue contributing to the science that is shaping the future of these potentially transformative medicines,” said Gustavo Pesquin, Chief Executive Officer, AskBio. “Our presence this year highlights advances across our AAV manufacturing platform and our work to make production increasingly reproducible, measurable and robust. Collectively, these presentations reflect our continued investment in the technologies, analytical capabilities and process understanding needed to consistently and reliably manufacture gene therapies at scale with a goal to ultimately bring them to the patients who may benefit.” 

AskBio’s presentations include (all times CET):  

Posters  

• Development of a stable producer cell line for successful AAV production (Poster #P0767). Poster Session I, Wednesday, October 28, 1:30–3:30 p.m., Elena Lazarova, Scientist II, Cell Line Development, AskBio. 

• In-line capacitance probes enable enhanced and consistent high-quality rAAV manufacturing (Poster #P0803). Poster Session I, Wednesday, October 28, 1:30–3:30 p.m., Andoni Gonzalez, R&D Associate Scientist, Viralgen. 

• Optimization of recombinant adeno-associated virus vector production: Integrating synthetic molecules to enhance vector yield and quality for clinical gene therapy applications (Poster #P0801). Poster Session I, Wednesday, October 28, 1:30–3:30 p.m., Jose Luis Abad Minguez, R&D Senior Scientist, Viralgen. 

• Repeatability and intermediate precision of a genome integrity assay for rAAV by long-read sequencing (Poster #P0253). Poster Session I, Wednesday, October 28, 1:30–3:30 p.m., Oihana Aldasoro, R&D Associate Scientist, Viralgen. 
• Investigations of AAV stability under stress conditions using small-scale models (Poster #P0802). Poster Session II, Thursday, October 29, 2:00–4:00 p.m., Ferran Vila Julia, MSAT Scientist, Viralgen.  

AskBio continues to develop an ambitious portfolio of investigational AAV-based gene therapies with the potential to treat some of the world’s most debilitating diseases, including congestive heart failure, limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, multiple system atrophy, Parkinson’s disease, and Pompe disease. By targeting diseases in several therapeutic areas, AskBio aims to deliver innovative treatments that may possibly benefit more than 35 million patients worldwide.^1–5  

About AskBio 

AskBio Inc., a wholly owned and independently operated subsidiary of Bayer AG, is a fully integrated gene therapy company dedicated to steering gene therapy into a new era where it can transform the lives of a wider range of people living with rare and more common diseases. The company maintains a portfolio of clinical programs across a range of disease indications related to a single gene or multiple factors across cardiovascular, central nervous system, and neuromuscular conditions, with a clinical-stage pipeline that includes investigational therapeutics for heart failure, limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, multiple system atrophy, Parkinson’s disease, and Pompe disease. AskBio’s end-to-end gene therapy platform includes our Pro10™ technology and Aava™ manufacturing platform, which make gene therapies more accessible by making research and commercial grade manufacturing more affordable. With global headquarters in Durham, North Carolina, the company has generated hundreds of proprietary capsids and promoters, several of which have entered pre-clinical and clinical testing. An early innovator in the gene therapy field with over 900 employees in five countries, the company holds more than 600 patents and patent applications in areas such as AAV production and chimeric capsids. Learn more at www.askbio.com or follow us on LinkedIn. 

About Viralgen 

Viralgen Vector Core S.L.U. is a leading Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) specializing exclusively in adeno-associated virus (AAV)–based cell and gene therapies. Founded in 2017 as a subsidiary of AskBio Inc. within the Bayer AG group, Viralgen delivers end-to-end support from early development to large-scale commercial manufacturing. Leveraging their proprietary Pro10™ suspension cell line and Aava™ manufacturing platform, Viralgen achieves industry-leading, high-yield, scalable manufacturing across all AAV serotypes. Located in San Sebastián, Spain, its state-of-the-art facility includes three cGMP suites with 2,000-liter capacities each, certified by the AEMPS/EMA, and integrates services including plasmid production, process optimization, fill-finish, and in-house QC testing. With over 1,500 AAV batches produced, Viralgen provides reliable, efficient solutions to bringing life-changing gene therapies to patients with greater speed and consistency. Learn more at https://viralgen.com and follow us on LinkedIn. 

About Bayer  

Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of health care and nutrition. In line with its mission, “Health for all, Hunger for none,” the company’s products and services are designed to support efforts to master major challenges presented by a growing and aging global population and create value through innovation and growth. The Bayer brand stands for trust, reliability and quality throughout the world. In fiscal 2025, the Group employed around 88,000 people and had sales of 45.6 billion euros. R&D expenses amounted to 5.8 billion euros. For more information, go to www.bayer.com. 

AskBio Forward-Looking Statements 

This press release contains “forward-looking statements.” Any statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Words such as “believes,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “expects,” “will,” “intends,” “potential,” “possible,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding AskBio’s clinical trials. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond AskBio’s control. Known risks include, among others: AskBio may not be able to execute on its business plans and goals, including meeting its expected or planned clinical and regulatory milestones and timelines, its reliance on third-parties, clinical development plans, manufacturing processes and plans, and bringing its product candidates to market, due to a variety of reasons, including possible limitations of company financial and other resources, manufacturing limitations that may not be anticipated or resolved in a timely manner, potential disagreements or other issues with our third-party collaborators and partners, and regulatory, court or agency feedback or decisions, such as feedback and decisions from the United States Food and Drug Administration or the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Any of the foregoing risks could materially and adversely affect AskBio’s business and results of operations. You should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. AskBio does not undertake any obligation to publicly update its forward-looking statements based on events or circumstances after the date hereof. 

References

[1] Parkinson's Foundation. Understanding Parkinson’s. Statistics. Available at: https://www.parkinson.org/understanding-parkinsons/statistics. Accessed: October 2026. 

[2] Malik A, et al. Congestive Heart Failure. In: StatPearls. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; Last update February 2025.   

[3] MedlinePlus Genetics. NIH. Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy. Available at: https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/condition/limb-girdle-muscular-dystrophy/#frequency. Accessed October 2026. 

[4] Goh Y, et al. Multiple system atrophy [published online ahead of print, 2023 Mar 16]. Pract Neurol. 2023; practneurol-2020-002797. 

[5] United Pompe Foundation. About Pompe Disease. Available at: https://www.unitedpompe.com/about-pompe-disease/. Accessed: October 2026.  

Phil McNamara
AskBio Inc. (AskBio)
+1 (984) 5207211
pmcnamara@askbio.com