Central European Advanced Therapy and Immunotherapy Centre

Progress in biomedical science enables scientists to use a whole new toolbox to treat significant groups of diseases, such as inherited rare diseases or diverse rare cancers. Advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs) apply recent advances in genomics, cell biology and/or gene editing to deliver truly personalized curative options. The project proposes to establish flagship ATMP-focused facility on the margin of academia and clinics: Central European Advanced Therapy and Immunotherapy Centre (CREATIC) at the Masaryk University (MU) in Brno, Czech Republic. MU will team up with the leading European research institutions: (1) Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology IZI, (2) Leipzig University, which together forms a significant cluster of research excellence in research, development and training in the fields of gene and cell therapies and (3) Copenhagen University with unique expertise in biomedical innovation law, intellectual property, biomedical ethics, privacy and regulatory framework, and health technology assessment. Combining STM and SSH disciplines the project will allow for (i) fundamental expansion of the scope of the R&I activities of all partners to build multidisciplinary excellence facilitating the delivery of ATMPs to patients who need them; (ii) establishment of the high level of decision-making autonomy for the CREATIC, which will allow significant organizational and management changes creating spirit and conditions for cutting-edge research and innovation in the Centre, and (iii) strengthen the smart specialization of the Czech Republic (RIS3 CZ 2021-2027) in the domain of Advanced medicine and drugs through the involvement of actors from the academic, public, private and societal sector. Our approach reflects research priorities and societal challenges outlined in the Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe, which proposes ‘bedside’ manufacture of highly individualised medicines as a future trend in treating rare diseases with ATMPs.