GeneT: Center of Excellence in Gene Therapy in Portugal" is the country's first research and innovation center in the field of gene therapy. It will be financed over six years with 38 million euros from European and national funding.

The University of Coimbra (UC) will create a new gene therapy research and innovation center to develop and produce therapies for serious and untreatable diseases, such as rare diseases. GeneT: Center of Excellence in Gene Therapy in Portugal will be financed over six years with 38 million euros from European and national funding.

This is the country's first research and innovation center in the field of gene therapy, which will focus on serious and untreatable diseases, especially rare diseases, with the conditions to carry out clinical trials and produce medicines. GeneT aims to be a beacon of excellence in research and development in this promising area, taking advantage of a privileged ecosystem that brings together academia, clinics and industry.

The new center will be funded by the European Commission, with 15 million euros, under the Teaming for Excellence competition of the Horizon Europe program, and by the Portuguese government, which will match the European funding. The project also has funding from the Coimbra Hospital and University Center, the Foundation for Science and Technology and various entities in the industry and health sector.

It is coordinated by Luís Pereira de Almeida, professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Coimbra, president of the UC Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology and coordinator of the Center for Innovation in Biomedicine and Biotechnology, and was officially launched today, February 2, at a ceremony held at Colégio da Trindade.

"GeneT will be the first research center dedicated to gene therapy in Portugal. We believe that this new hub of innovation and research will revolutionize the treatment and progression of serious and as yet untreated diseases, since gene therapy allows curative treatments, in many cases after a single administration. This is a unique project that will bring together research, clinical trials and the production of medicines, thus helping to boost the response that Portuguese science can give in this area that is so fundamental to the future of human beings," says Luís Pereira de Almeida.

Gene therapy is a cutting-edge therapeutic approach capable of developing new therapies for various diseases, especially rare, often hereditary pathologies, which has already proven to have a huge impact on people's lives, reducing suffering and mortality. It is an area that still has great potential for development - especially in terms of the translational dimension, which allows scientific knowledge to be applied to the clinical side.

"This ambitious new center of excellence will revolutionize gene therapy research in Portugal by creating a unique ecosystem that brings together research, innovation and clinical practice. It will be another important step in affirming the University of Coimbra as a world reference in research and innovation, particularly in the health sciences," said the Rector of the University of Coimbra, Amílcar Falcão.

In recent years, gene therapy has revolutionized, for example, the treatment and progression of neuromuscular or ophthalmological diseases, such as Spinal Muscular Atrophy or Leber's Congenital Amaurosis. There are currently around 7,000 rare diseases, 95% of which have no effective therapy, affecting 6-10% of the world's population, and there are only 13 gene therapy products on the market to treat these diseases.

This new center of excellence at the University of Coimbra will collaborate with the Gene Therapy Innovation and Manufacturing Centre at the University of Sheffield (UK) and the Finish National Virus Vector Laboratory at the University of Eastern Finland, pioneering institutions in the development of gene therapy.

It will involve various structures at the University of Coimbra, such as the Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, the Center for Innovation in Biomedicine and Biotechnology, and the Faculties of Pharmacy, Medicine and Science and Technology.

It is hoped that GeneT will have a significant impact on Portuguese public health, by enabling the development of new therapies for serious and untreatable diseases, and that it will be an example of the potential of scientific research to improve people's lives.

The public presentation of GeneT took place at UC's Colégio da Trindade and included speeches by the Rector of UC; the Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education; the President of the Foundation for Science and Technology, Madalena Alves; and the GeneT coordinator.

Members of the European Commission were also present: Stefan Weiers from the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation and Minna Wilkki from the European Research Executive Agency.

The event was also attended by the leaders of two pioneering research centers in the development of gene therapy: Seppo Ylä-Herttuala, director of the Kuopio Biocenter and the Finnish National Virus Vector Laboratory (Finland); and Mimoun Azzouz, director of the Gene Therapy Innovation and Manufacturing Centre at the University of Sheffield (United Kingdom).

See the new here. 

Catarina Ribeiro & Luís Pereira de Almeida