CHA Medical and Bio Group hosted a forum featuring international researchers in the field of cell and gene therapy (CGT) to share the latest research findings and discuss the potential of CGT to treat rare and intractable diseases, the bio group said Friday. The bio group hosted the 2023 Global Forum on Future Medicine at its headquarters CHA Bio Complex in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. About 400 people, including domestic pharmaceutical and bio companies, associations and government officials, gathered to explore ways of cooperation. “We hope that this forum will serve as an opportunity for global collaboration by strategically cooperating with researchers from advanced countries such as the United States and Japan beyond Korea,” Yoon Ho-sup, president of the CHA Advanced Research Institute, said in an opening speech. During the forum, research on the production of human organs using stem cells and preventing aging gained the attention of participants. Hiromitsu Nakauchi, a genetics professor at Stanford University, said that the production of organs from different species, which is currently being researched, and its use in treatment of rare diseases, are so promising that the Japanese government has enacted a related law. Lee Dong-ryul, a professor of biomedical science at CHA University, shared his research on mesenchymal cells made from somatic cell nuclear transfer-derived embryonic stem cells to inhibit ovarian aging and improve fertility. “Ovarian health is directly related to women’s fertility. We are researching effective methods to preserve ovarian function using stem cells,” Lee said. The potential for stem cells to treat intractable diseases such as spinal cord injuries and Parkinson's disease was also highlighted during the forum. "Currently, there is no fundamental treatment for spinal cord injury patients," said Hideyuki Okano, a professor and chair of the Department of Physiology at Keio University. “We are conducting the world's first clinical trial in 2022 to transplant iPS (induced pluripotent stem cells) derived nerve cells into patients who cannot move their limbs due to spinal cord injuries, and we expect to develop an effective treatment." Han In-bo, a professor of the Department of Neurosurgery, Spine Center at CHA University, presented research on the treatment of chronic back pain using stem cells. “I expect that the stem cell therapy Codestem-DD for chronic back pain developed by CHA Biotech will be a new treatment option for patients who have failed conservative therapies such as painkillers and non-surgical therapies when it is commercialized,” Han said. (ICE SEOUL)

Fonte notizia: THE KOREA TIMES