THE ACTO TIMES: 2026 Summer Edition

Dear Readers and Friends of The ACTO Times,

It is my great pleasure to welcome you to the 2026 Summer Edition of The ACTO Times. As we enter the summer season and prepare for the upcoming 2026 ACTO-ASPI Annual Meeting, to be held on August 26–28 in Jakarta, Indonesia, this issue arrives at a timely moment, bringing together important updates on the latest advances in cell and gene therapy (CGT), along with highlights from our symposium program.

In this edition, we warmly invite you to join us at the 2026 ACTO-ASPI International Annual Meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia. This gathering will provide an excellent opportunity to engage with the latest global developments in CGT, experience a dynamic scientific program, and meet a distinguished group of speakers and chairpersons. We are honored to welcome ACTO Chairperson Prof. Akihiro Shimosaka, Conference Chairperson Prof. Amin Soebandrio W. Kusumo, Republic of Indonesia Minister of Health H.E. Budi Gunadi Sadikin, Prof. Dr. Arif Satria, Prof. Masayo Takahashi, Prof. Koji Eto, Prof. Masato Sato, Prof. Keiya Ozawa, Dr. Maria Cristina Galli, Dr. Yoshiaki Maruyama, Prof. Taruna Ikrar, and Mr. Yueh-Tung Tsai.

This issue also highlights important regional developments in CGT across China and South Korea. In particular, we examine the evolving regulatory landscape, including the movement toward dual-track frameworks and the emergence of new legal pathways that are shaping the future of the field.

Our Academic Highlights focus on major advances in immunology and translational medicine, especially the 2026 Tang Prize Laureates in Biopharmaceutical Science, important milestones in T-cell-based therapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases, and emerging insights into the plasticity of neutrophils in cancer biology. In recognition of the twentieth anniversary of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) research, this issue also features the recent conditional approval of two new allogeneic iPSC-based products, Amchepry (raguneprocel) and ReHeart. These landmark developments underscore the growing maturity and promise of regenerative medicine.

We also place special emphasis on the expanding role of artificial intelligence in drug development, digital biology, and cell therapy. Beyond cell product innovation, this edition turns to gene therapy clinical trials, an increasingly important area for understanding how gene editing may contribute to the treatment of rare diseases and for reviewing the latest progress in the field.

In addition, we spotlight developments in the CGT industry, with particular attention to the clinical applications of mesenchymal stem cells and immune cell CDMO services. The integrated translational framework and MSC product development efforts of UnicoCell Biomed Co., Ltd. (向榮生醫科技股份有限公司) and Steminent Biotherapeutics Inc. (仲恩生醫科技股份有限公司) are highlighted, alongside an overview of China’s evolving CAR-T and immune cell therapy CDMO landscape.

I hope this Summer Edition provides you with an insightful and inspiring overview of the latest progress in CGT. Once again, we sincerely invite you to join us at the 2026 ACTO-ASPI Meeting in Jakarta. We look forward to welcoming you there and to sharing this exciting occasion together.

Sincerely,

Yen Hua Huang, PhD  

Distinguished Professor, Taipei Medical University  

Editor-in-Chief, The ACTO Times  

ACTO, Asian Cellular Therapy Organization