After a year-long reconstruction, Masaryk University has received final approval for Pavilion C03 of the Faculty of Medicine – a new GMP facility for the future development of gene and cell therapies within the CREATIC Centre of Excellence.
In December, the reconstructed Pavilion C03, one of the Faculty of Medicine buildings, was approved for use at Masaryk University’s Bohunice campus. For the CREATIC Centre of Excellence, this represents a major milestone: the pavilion will serve as a key facility for research, development, and preparation of gene and cell therapies intended for patients with rare diseases.
The manufacturing and development area of the pavilion covers 1,000 m² and has been built as GMP cleanrooms meeting the most stringent international standards for modern therapies. Gene and cell therapies involve working with living biological material, often directly with patient cells. Therefore, the environment, technologies, and related processes must be designed to ensure long-term safety, consistent quality, and full traceability of all activities.
The reconstruction lasted 12 months, after which the pavilion gained new capacities in the form of six manufacturing units within cleanrooms, state-of-the-art technological equipment, and strengthened technical infrastructure. Following the final approval, finishing works and relocation are now underway. This will be followed by the expert phase of commissioning into GMP operation and validation of the cleanrooms, planned for the spring months. After successful completion of this phase, the pavilion will be ready for manufacturing-related activities, which will be subject to supervision and inspection by the State Institute for Drug Control (SÚKL).
The reconstruction was carried out by a consortium of companies OHLA ŽS, EP Rožnov, and IDPS, which, despite demanding conditions and challenges typical of reconstruction projects, successfully met the requirements and completed the work on schedule.
The reconstruction of the pavilion is funded by the Jan Amos Komenský Operational Programme under the CREATIC Investment project (CZ.02.01.01/00/22_001/0000254) in the total amount of CZK 213 million excluding VAT. Additional funding comes from the NPO project (LX22NPO5102) and the Exceles programme (NÚVR) in the total amount of CZK 12.7 million excluding VAT. Part of the reconstruction was also financed from the Faculty of Medicine’s own resources, amounting to CZK 36.8 million excluding VAT.
About CREATIC
The Central European Centre for Advanced Therapies and Immunotherapy (CREATIC) commenced its activities on 1 September 2023 thanks to financial support of EUR 35 million from the European Union and the Czech Republic. CREATIC focuses on the development of advanced cell and gene therapies, particularly for patients with rare and undiagnosed diseases, paediatric patients with high-risk cancers, and selected groups of adult oncology patients.
CREATIC builds on the long-standing experience of the academic environment in the development and manufacturing of advanced therapies. Within this framework, two advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs) have already been developed and are being manufactured in clinical trial settings: MyDendrix™, an anticancer cell therapy based on autologous dendritic cells evaluated in paediatric, adolescent, and young adult patients with high-risk malignancies; and FlyCellix™, a therapy based on mesenchymal stromal cells developed for patients with epidermolysis bullosa (so-called butterfly skin disease).
Approximately 600 high school students from across the country attended the fifth annual Czechopes student conference this year. As the main partner, the MU Faculty of Medicine prepared a rich program – from interactive workshops at selected workplaces to a Junior Academy stand open all day, where visitors could try out a range of practical activities and ask anything they wanted to know about studying medicine.
These days, work is underway to make the Medicinal Herbs Centre at the Faculty of Medicine of Masaryk University an even more pleasant place. However, this means temporarily restricting the entry of visitors.
