Tools and technologies for advanced therapies

Specific challenge: For their successful application, new therapies, such as gene or cell therapies, tissue engineering or regenerative medicine often require technological innovation in the form of development of specific component tools and techniques such as isolation and multiplication of a cell or development of a scaffold, delivery of the therapy to the patient and for following-up the effect of the therapy in the patient.

In particular, achieving therapeutic scale production and GMP standards at reasonable cost is often underestimated. In addition, specific attention needs to be given to aspects such as miniaturisation, automation, biomaterials and scaffold construction while advanced methods and devices for targeted and controlled delivery, and monitoring technology, are needed to bring these innovative treatments to the patient.

Since experience with the new therapies is by definition limited, achieving regulatory compliance for them is another challenge.

Scope: Th