$20 million designated to regenerative medicine
The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, demonstrated the federal government’s commitment to the field of regenerative medicine through a $20 million investment to the Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (CCRM), helping to establish a stem cell therapy development facility in Toronto’s downtown MaRS Discovery District.
The Centre for Advanced Therapeutic Cell Technologies will be the first facility in the world to use a collaborative approach between research institutions and industry to solve cell therapy manufacturing challenges.
“This represents an important investment to the development of a world-class cell manufacturing facility, essential to the translation of our research to the clinic,” says Dr. Gordon Keller, Director of the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine and Lead Scientist for CCRM’s Cell Manufacturing Platform.
The wide-scale deployment of cell-based therapies brings enormous economic and social potential for transforming the course of incurable diseases. The main targets for cell-based therapies are high-impact disease areas with significant unmet need, including cancer, heart disease, neurodegenerative diseases, musculoskeletal disorder and autoimmune diseases.
“The health of Canadians is a priority,” commented Trudeau. “We believe that supporting this new, world-class facility will have significant benefits for innovative health-related technology in Canada and around the world. It will also generate new jobs and make Ontario an even stronger competitor in the bio-tech industry.”