Stefan Wildt

Stefan Wildt, Ph.D. is the Chief Technology Officer at Takeda R&D. Stefan leads Takeda’s Translational Cell Therapy Engine, an interdisciplinary group of scientists advancing a diverse pipeline of cell therapy assets, some of which are developed in partnership with leaders in the field such as Gamma Delta Therapeutics (UK), Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (USA), Noile Immune Biotech (JP) and the Center for iPSC Cell Research and Application (CiRA) (JP). Takeda’s cell therapy efforts focus on several platforms, from next generation chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cells via gamma-delta T cells, to induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and natural killer (NK) cells. Several of Takeda’s cell therapy assets are at the clinical stage.

He has also been responsible for the development and execution of an end-to-end vision and strategy for Pharmaceutical Sciences, ensuring the necessary capabilities for an innovative, highly partnered and modality-diverse pipeline. Pharmaceutical Sciences supports CMC activities through all development stages and is also responsible for Takeda’s device development. Stefan’s team is responsible for the seamless transfer of technology and know-how to the Global Manufacturing and Sciences and Global Quality organizations.

Prior to joining Takeda, Stefan worked at Novartis Pharma AG, where he was Vice President of Global Head Technical Research and Development Cell- and Gene-Therapies (TRD-CGT). While at Novartis, he and his teams were responsible for building the technical team, capabilities, internal and external footprint, as well as the strategy, that supported a variety of cell and gene therapy programs, delivering the cell process for the first ever approved and commercialized chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapy. Before joining Novartis, he served as Head of Biologics and Bioprocess Research and Development at Merck & Co and Senior Director at Merck BioVentures (MBV), where he was a member of the core team developing Merck’s entry into the follow-on biologics space.