We promote the advanced therapies industry in Spain
Advanced therapies are the result of scientific advances in tissue, cell and molecular biotechnology and are having a huge impact on improving people’s health
What impact do advanced therapies have on society?
Advanced therapies are a new generation of innovative medicines based on genes, cells or tissue. These innovative, disruptive therapies have great therapeutic potential, as they allow us to treat genetic and degenerative diseases, and even some types of cancer, that can’t be treated using other approaches. In fact, some of these therapies are providing a single-treatment cure for highly complex cases, giving them great potential to transform the lives of families and patients. Advanced therapies are key in areas like cancer, neurodegenerative diseases (ALS, Alzheimer, Parkinson’s), cardiovascular diseases (stroke, heart attack), high-prevalence conditions like incontinence and osteoarthritis, and more than 7,000 genetic rare diseases. But it is also essential in Covid-19 treatments, tissue regeneration and transplants.
What does biotechnology do to mitigate this impact?
In recent years, biotechnology has channelled a massive amount of R&D into advanced therapies all over the world. The result of which was more than one thousand active clinical trials under way in advanced therapies around the world in 2020. This figure is up over 60% from 2015.
Most of the studies under way, 62%, are focused on oncology, making advanced therapies the cornerstone in the near future of treatment of serious diseases like cancer.
How are AseBio and its members working to address this challenge?
Spain is ranked fifth in number of scientific publications in the field of cell therapy compared to GDP, ahead of countries like South Korea, the United Kingdom and Italy, and leads the world in number of clinical trials. However, most of them are in the very early stages.
Now we have the chance to turn knowledge and research generated in Spanish hospitals and research centres into industrial treatments reaching as many patients as possible. To do so, we want to make collaboration and transfer a priority in policies and instruments that aim to promote advanced therapies in Spain.
At AseBio we have twelve companies, many consolidated in a competitive global market, four hospitals and three research centres dedicated to finding treatments to diseases using this type of therapies. These studies are targeting oncological, cardiovascular, autoimmune and musculoskeletal conditions, among others.
- Through our Advanced Therapies workgroup, we valorise the R&D, technological and industrial capacities in advanced therapies to secure Spain’s leadership in this field.