Karolinska
University Hospital Sweden and GE
Healthcare Life Sciences today announced a joint research
collaboration to drive advances in technologies and workflows for use in
the rapidly emerging field of cell therapy. The three year collaboration
will combine Karolinska University Hospital's world-class clinical
expertise in cell therapy with GE Healthcare's industry-leading
capabilities in cell biology and in technologies for the manufacture of biotherapeutics.
Cell therapy, the use of cells to replace damaged tissue or to treat
disease, shows great promise for the treatment of many life-threatening
and life-limiting illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, Parkinson's
and age-related macular degeneration. There is enormous interest in the
potential health benefits of cell therapy, with more than 500 studies
worldwide currently at the clinical experimental phase. Karolinska
University Hospital is leading several pioneering cell therapy trials
for the treatment of cancer as well as neurological and metabolic
disorders. GE Healthcare Life Sciences has over 30 years' experience in
developing technologies for the manufacture of biotherapeutics. The
company also has a pioneering research program aimed at developing new
technologies that will help enable the new era of cell therapy.
The goal of the collaboration is to explore and advance future
technology and workflow needs for cell therapy in a clinical setting.
Before cell therapy can be used as a routine treatment, there are a
number of significant technological and regulatory challenges that need
to be addressed. Routine cell therapy will require new technologies to
grow, handle, process and analyze cells, as well as the development of
robust, reproducible and standardized protocols and workflows for
manufacturing and quality control. Karolinska University Hospital and GE
Healthcare will work together to identify what is needed to make this a
reality. The research will be coordinated by Pontus Blomberg from the
Karolinska University Hospital in conjunction with scientists and
bio-engineers from GE Healthcare Life Sciences.
Welcoming the collaboration, Professor Johan Permert, Director for
Development and Innovation, Karolinska University Hospital said, "Our
expectation from this exciting and innovative collaboration is to solve
problems that hinder cell therapies from becoming an established
treatment. By involving not only researchers and industry partners but
also the public healthcare system, we are aiming to develop methods and
tools that accelerate the implementation of cell therapies into standard
treatment. In addition, this collaboration is a first initiative to
develop enhanced interaction between Karolinska University Hospital and
industry, which will lead to improved care chains."
Dr. Amr Abid, General Manager Cell Technologies, GE Healthcare Life
Sciences said, "Cell therapy offers the hope that one day there will be
treatments for diseases for which today there is no cure. Our vision at
GE Healthcare is to help make that hope reality for patients and doctors
by developing the technologies and workflows that will help bring cell
therapy to the clinic. These are big challenges which will only be
overcome by working hand-in-hand with the world's foremost experts in
clinical cell therapy, which is why we're delighted to be working with
the world-class cell therapy team at Karolinska."
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