The Center for Cell and Gene Therapy is active, both in the implementation of approved cell and gene therapies, as well as in clinical research with the design of its own clinical protocols of pioneering therapies.
With the acquisition of the CliniMACS-Prodigy device, cell therapies which are recently approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for the treatment of resistant viral infections after transplantation can be performed in our country as well. More particular, specific cells (antigenic) against CMV, EBV, ADV, and BK viruses can be isolated from healthy donors and be given to young patients resulting in the eradication of the disease. The first cell therapy was successfully performed on 22/5/2020 and involved a 4-year-old patient with lymphoperplastic disease related to the Epstein Barr (EBV) virus.
In addition to antigen-specific cells for the treatment of specific infections, a clinical study will soon be launched at the center to assess the effectiveness of treatment for genetically modified T-lymphocytes (CAR-T), which will be produced and multiplied on the CliniMACS-Prodigy device.The Center is also involved in international multicenter studies on gene therapy for β-Thalassemia.