Karolinska University Hospital and GE Healthcare collaborate on cell therapy technologies
Pioneering three-year study will investigate technology and workflow needs in a clinical setting
Karolinska University Hospital in Sweden and UK-based GE Healthcare Life Sciences have entered into a three-year joint research collaboration to drive advances in technologies and workflows for use in cell therapy.
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 more than 30 years’ experience in developing technologies for the manufacture of biotherapeutics. The company also has a pioneering research programme 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 analyse cells, as well as the development of robust, reproducible and standardised protocols and workflows for manufacturing and quality control.
Karolinska University Hospital and GE Healthcare aim to work together to identify what is needed to make this a reality. The research will be co-ordinated by Pontus Blomberg from the Karolinska University Hospital in conjunction with scientists and bio-engineers from GE Healthcare Life Sciences.
‘Our expectation from this exciting and innovative collaboration is to solve problems that hinder cell therapies from becoming an established treatment,’ said Professor Johan Permert, director for development and innovation, Karolinska University Hospital. ‘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.’
