The Centre for Cell Therapy and Regenerative Medicine

With its Centre for Cell Therapy and Regenerative Medicine the university hospital and the university of Antwerp offer a one stop shop for development, certified manufacturing and clinical implementation of Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMP).  It is the first academic GMP-certified Centre that meets EU regulations for the production of ATMPs.  We offer our know-how and facilities and are keen to explore new avenues both with industry and other research institutes for collaborative projects.

Situation

The development of innovative therapeutic products is essential for future progress in therapy and diagnosis. These advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs) include gene therapy, somatic cell therapy and tissue engineered products. ATMPs are developed through translational research and can have a major impact on public health, fulfilling the hope for treatment of advanced cancer, blindness, neurodegenerative among other diseases where standard medicine fails to achieve satisfactory results.  One of the main challenges with ATMPs is to produce cell or tissue products of the highest quality according to the EU regulations for ATMPs.

What we offer

Within the university hospital and the university of Antwerp we have developed an ATMP Expertise Centre which exerts full control over the pharmaceutical development of its cell and tissue therapeutics.  The centre is able to navigate R&D and preclinical phases all the way through to GMP production under a robust quality management system for clinical testing.  This is the first academic GMP-certified Centre that meets EU regulations for the production of ATMPs.

We have a proven track record in the development of novel cell and tissue therapies and continue pioneering next generation therapies through own research and multiple scientific collaborations.

The recent GMP accreditation of our manufacturing facility together with our expertise in GMP process development, GCP and regulatory affairs for ATMPs, enables us to bridge the gap between the research bench and the patient, in the safest and fastest way possible.

The centre consists of:

* Experts in regulatory affairs

* Accredited infrastructure

   - cGMP C clean rooms

   - cGMP B clean rooms

   - Quality control lab

   - Research labs

   - Qualified personnel

* Proximity with hospital for CGP administration of ATMPs

About the researchers

This centre combines the expertise of the Laboratory of Experimental Hematology and the Laboratory of Ophthalmology from the University of Antwerp (UA) and the Departments of Hematology and Ophthalmology from the University Hospital Antwerp (UZA) to form the Centre for Cell Therapy and  Regenerative Medicine (CCRG).

Contact

Prof. dr. Nathalie Cools +32 3 821 35 84