At biopharma gathering, executives face a moment of wonder

Sometimes the biggest moments at a conference happen backstage.

At the annual STAT Summit last week, that kind of moment came when one of the top biopharmaceutical executives in the world met a toddler in a tuxedo.

Emma Walmsley, the departing CEO of British pharma giant GSK and a mother of four, crouched down on the floor to greet the smiling baby. The child was unique in a way he won’t ever remember: This was KJ Muldoon , the very first child saved by gene editing with a bespoke CRISPR treatment made just for him.

KJ’s curtain call came before Walmsley’s. On stage, the researchers who had engineered his treatment said they would ask the Food and Drug Administration to bring such rare treatments to far more patients . But Walmsley, during her time on stage, was still thinking abo