The successful Kick-off meeting of the CREATIC project is behind us

On September 19 and 20, the CREATIC project was successfully launched, the goal of which is to build a center for research, development and production of gene and cell therapies for patients with rare diseases at the Faculty of Medicine of Masaryk University.

Together with our international project partners Fraunhofer IZI, Universität Leipzig, Københavns Universitet - University of Copenhagen, we spent an inspiring time in Brno. The ceremonial part of our Kick-off meeting took place on literally holy ground, in the rooms of the Mendel Museum in the Augustinian monastery, where genetics itself was born.

A press conference was held in which the Rector of Masaryk University Martin Bareš, the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of Masaryk University Martin Repko and the Principal investigator of the project Regina Demlová presented the main advantages of the CREATIC project to journalists. The Director of the regional branch of the General Health Insurance Company, Petra Pevná, pointed out that the production of these drugs on a non-commercial basis will benefit Czech patients.

Press release: https://lnkd.in/eBsBUAus

At the Kick-off meeting, the Minister of Science, Research and Innovation of the Czech Republic, Helena Langšádlová, and the Deputy Minister of Education, Youth and Sports Jiří Nantl praised CREATIC for its promise to transfer research results directly into practice. Elisabet Salas Ibanez from the European Research Executive Agency (REA) explained the expected impact of the Teaming for Excellence project founded under the Horizon Europe Programme.

Professor Dalibor Valík explained the link between genetics and rare diseases. Lenka Zdražilová Dubská continued by presenting the solid foundations of the CREATIC project, namely two medicinal products for modern therapy developed by the laboratories of the Institute of Pharmacology of the Faculty of Medicine of Masaryk University. Deputy Minister of Health Václav Pláteník joined the discussion with our international partners about the possibilities of creating pathways to affordable cell and gene therapy for rare diseases.

Our partners and their contribution to the CREATIC project were introduced, which are:

• Ulrike Köhl, who spoke about the long-standing expertise in GMP process development (good manufacturing practice) and manufacturing of medicinal products at Fraunhofer IZI
• Maik Friedrich emphasized the expertise of the University of Leipzig in the field of clinical research and its willingness to support our experts in education and training
• Audrey Lebret from CeBIL, who are excellent in biomedical innovation law, explained the need for implementation of a platform for advanced therapies to improve patients’ access to advanced medicines
• Regina Demlová completed all the puzzles in the vision and mission of
  the Central European Advanced Therapy and Immunotherapy Center (CREATIC)