Modern and Gene Therapy at IHBT

History of Cell Therapy and Immunotherapy

The development of cell therapy represents a key advance in modern medicine; the roots of cell therapy date back to the mid-20th century, when the basic principles of the immune response and the possibilities of cell manipulation were first discovered. The first major milestone was bone marrow transplantation, which revolutionised the treatment of hematological malignancies. The gradual development of knowledge of the different cell types involved in the immune response has inevitably brought with it attempts to use these cells in therapy, for example

• Administration of immune cells (T cells) isolated from a donor and specifically recognising selected viruses for the sparing treatment of infection.
• Teaching antigen-presenting cells (dendritic cells) to recognise tumour cells so that they can trigger an immune response against the tumour.
• In-vitro multiplication of cells that generate an immune response against the tumour (NK cells, some types of T cells) and their administration to the patient.
• Administration of specific cells (e.g., mesenchymal stem cells, regulatory T cells) that can suppress the immune response and graft-versus-host reaction.

In the 1980s and 1990s, genetic manipulation technologies began to develop, allowing direct influence on cellular functions. A significant shift occurred with the discovery of the possibility of using a patient's own immune cells, which can be genetically modified to target specific types of disease. This pathway led to the development of CAR-T therapy, the first approved therapy of its kind, which transformed the treatment of leukemias and lymphomas in 2017.

Developments at IHBT

In 2014, the management of the IHBT initiated a comprehensive immunotherapy programme to bring the IHBT's capabilities closer to those of the world's top hemato-oncology centres. It built clean facilities for the production of advanced and later gene therapy drugs and gradually adjusted the organisational structure to create specialised departments providing research, production and clinical trials.

Today, the Institute is able to produce all types of immunotherapy drugs for its patients, including its own innovative CAR-T cells designed by researchers from the Institute. All of these products are currently part of clinical trials involving IHBT physicians.