UZ Leuven and KU Leuven invest 14 million euro in new cell and gene therapy facility

Many diseases are caused by genetic defects or the absence of a particular functional gene. Gene therapy can repair a patient's genetic material or shut down a disease gene. In cell-based therapies, the patient's own immune cells are genetically modified and replaced. With its own ATMP facility, UZ Leuven will be able to modify a patient's own immune cells, bringing benefits to doctors and patients.

Cell and gene therapy is already successfully used today in certain cancers, neurodegenerative diseases, metabolic diseases and rare genetic disorders. An in-house cell and gene facility offers new perspectives for patients with rare genetic disorders and hard-to-treat cancers.

Accelerating ATMP development

Cell and gene therapy drugs fall under the heading of Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs). Their production requires a specialised infrastructure with strict regulations and specially trained personnel. The development path of an ATMP is complex, which is why pharmaceutical companies are often not interested in funding experimental drugs in the early stages. Cell and gene therapy treatments are particularly important for patients in whom conventional treatments fail. They can provide a solution in diseases for which no treatments exist or for which existing treatments fail. In certain cases, gene or cell therapy can even cure a disease completely. With its own Leuven production facility, immunotherapy will become much easier logistically for both doctor and patient. .

Hub for clinical research

UZ Leuven will build the new facility on the Gasthuisberg campus, together with KU Leuven and KU Leuven Research & Development. The new centre of excellence should be ready in the second half of 2025 and the production facility will meet the strict quality standards of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP). Successful tandems between committed doctors at UZ Leuven and specialised basic researchers at KU Leuven could lead to innovative therapies for an international patient population.

Bart Geers, investment manager at KU Leuven Research & Development: ‘By investing in our own ATMP facility, we are setting up a unique hub. It will allow us to support researchers, clinicians, professors and scientists to turn their project ideas into clinical applications. With a new infrastructure, we will produce advanced or experimental cell-based therapies to industry standards at the hospital. New therapy options will be available to patients faster.’

Prof Paul Herijgers, CEO of UZ Leuven: ‘UZ Leuven has been a pioneer in the field of rare diseases for years and has extensive expertise in the diagnosis of genetic syndromes. A new production facility for ATMP will allow doctors and researchers to develop therapies tailored to the genetic disorder or to the patient's cancer. It will allow us to participate in international academic research on cell and gene therapy within European university hospitals. This opens the door to personalised treatments that are more effective and better tailored to individual patients. By taking the reins into our own hands, we can respond more quickly to new scientific discoveries and take our clinical research to the next level.’