German firm Miltenyi Biotec on Tuesday announced the launch of operations in India with the opening of an office in Hyderabad and further plans to invest in a first-of-its-kind Cell and Gene Therapy centre of excellence for Indian academia and industry.
Scientists, researchers, industry experts and clinicians can get classroom to hands-on training on cell and gene therapy (CGT) approaches, from proof of concept to pre-clinical / clinical development and commercialisation, at the CoE. The centre will also provide Indian researchers, scientists and clinicians easier access to expertise, research and manufacturing solutions, according to the firm, which is a global provider of products and services that empower biomedical discovery and advance cellular therapy.
The announcement of the office opening and the proposed CoE was made at BioAsia 2024 in the presence of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy; Board Member Miltenyi Biotec B.V. & Co. KG and managing director Boris Stoffel; Miltenyi Biomedicine MD Toon Overstijns; and MD-India and Area Head India and Southeast Asia Annapurna Das.
“Delighted to note that Miltenyi Biotec has chosen Hyderabad to set up their first innovation and technology centre, which will be an important node to help advance novel therapies within the scientific community and promises access to healthcare options for patients both in India but also worldwide. Also happy to note that the centre will offer training in cell and gene therapy to academia and industry, which aligns with our vision of skilling university,” the Chief Minister said in a release.
“We have a single-minded focus to drive accessibility, affordability and availability of cell and gene therapies by local development and manufacturing in India,” said Mr.Stoffel. Miltenyi Biotec, which seeks to introduce new therapies to patients with high unmet medical needs, said with fostering knowledge exchange is vital for CGT advancement it has forged partnerships with BIRAC, DBT as CGT partner as well as collaborations between academic and industry partners.
The company intends to seek opportunities to catalyse development of CAR (chimeric antigen receptor) T cell clinical development and manufacturing, with the prospect of bringing centralised and point-of-care CAR T cell therapy to hospitals across India.
