The company PrimeCell and ICRC concluded Research Cooperation Agreement with three Israeli companies – Alpha Net, Pres-By Vision and Chelotech. Scientists of Sackler Faculty of Medicine at Tel Aviv University will also engage in activities of the Consortium. “The goal of the Consortium is to develop new methods of highly personalized effective treatment, especially for such cases when the patient cannot be treated with common medicinal products and methods, or when the treatment with human cells is more benign for the patient,” says Martin Pavlík, the director of St. Anne’s University Hospital Brno.
„Regenerative medicine is a new field which uses natural healing and regenerative features of human cells or genes. During the recent years we managed, in cooperation with several research centers and universities, to develop medicinal products based on cells which significantly improve the patients’ quality of life,” states Michal Zahradníček, the founder of the company PrimeCell which belongs among the leaders in the field of regenerative medicine in the EU. PrimeCell has two top-level laboratory complexes in Brno and Ostrava. In these complexes of an area equivalent to 10.000 m2 PrimeCell employs hundreds of specialists in cell biology and related fields. “Cooperation with institutions such as the ICRC has proven very successful. For instance a month ago with the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ostrava we started a research and translational development of so called Natural Killer Cells which are able to kill tumor cells or cells attacked by viruses,” adds Michal Zahradníček.
“Israel is a leader in research in many fields including the regenerative medicine,” states Gorazd B. Stokin, the chief of the International Clinical Research Center of St. Anne’s University Hospital Brno. “In the recent 5 to 6 years our Center has created modern capacities for research, for example Cell and Tissue Engineering Facility, Clinical Trials and Clinical Pharmacology Unit for testing new medicinal products and medical devices, or Stem Cells and Disease Modeling Research Laboratory where re-programmed human stem cells are used to model diseases leading to cardiomyopathy and heart failure,” concludes Gorazd B. Stokin.
The cells may come either from the patient’s body or from a donor. “Human cells and tissues are processed, handled and altered with special procedures in such a way to secure the required regenerative effect on the affected tissues or organs after their application into a patient’s body,” explains Serhiy Forostyak, the director of Research and Development in PrimeCell. Regenerative medicine processes can be applied for instance in treatment of ocular and neurodegenerative diseases, heart diseases and defects, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, in orthopedics, treatment of wounds and burns.
From the left: Serhiy Forostyak, Vivian Nuttman, Barak Azmon, Yori Appelbaum a René Samek
PrimeCell Advanced Therapy is a bio-medicinal company specialized in development of medicinal products in clinical trials which are focused on cell therapy and tissue engineering. It owns and runs 10.000 m2 of laboratories of current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP). Thanks to its personnel’s more than twenty years of experience in tissue processing, human cells manipulation and the state-of-the-art production infrastructure, the company PrimeCell is a respected producer of innovative medicinal products which has its customers in eight countries.
FNUSA-ICRC: The International Clinical Research Center of St. Anne’s University Hospital Brno is a scientific and research center concerning with searching for new methods, technologies and medicinal products for prevention, diagnostics and treatment of cardiovascular, neurological and certain oncological diseases and disorders. The center was built in years 2011 to 2015 with a contribution of the European Union Structural Funds. Based on cooperation of specialists within international multi-field teams, the research already delivers results in the form of new diagnostic equipment and methods of treatment.
Alpha Net: The company was founded in 1996. It originally specialized in ophthalmology, later its focus broadened also to other fields of medicine. And today it supplies hospitals, clinics and practices with a broad portfolio of medical apparatus. The company has built a high reputation for its innovations and consistent support of its customers to whom it offers the latest technologies and methods of treatment. The company’s goal is to keep improving the quality of patients’ lives and to support Israeli medical community and medical sector.
Pres-By Vision: Pres-By Vision company is developing new active lenses which enable patients suffering from presbyopia to improve the acuity of their near vision without using glasses. Presbyopia is a common loss of the ability to focus which occurs as a result of aging of organism (usually after 40 years of age).
Chelotech: Chelotech is an Israeli research and development pharmaceutical company concerning with a very harmful phenomenon: ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) and brain stroke. Chelotech had developed a medicinal combination which has proven significant efficiency against IRI according to vast experimental studies. Chelotech together with PrimeCell are about to start a range of studies to prove the medicinal combination causes minimization of severe injuries caused by ischemic-reperfusion at patients suffering from AMI or ischemic brain stroke.
