Wincell Research joins Siriraj to sign a memorandum of agreement for cooperation in research and development to extend cellular immunotherapy for cancer patients.
On 4th April 2024 (10.00 am), the Wincell Research Co., Ltd. team led by Dr. Oran Piamkulvanich, the Founder and CEO of Wincell Research Co., Ltd.) joined the Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital – Mahidol University (MU) led by Prof. Dr. Apichat Asavamongkolkul (Dean of Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital – MU) as a chairperson along with Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sith Sathornsumetee (Vice Dean of Research and Innovation, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital – MU) and Prof. Dr. Pa-thai Yenchitsomanus (Director of Siriraj Center of Research Excellence for Cancer Immunotherapy or SiCORE-CIT) to sign a memorandum of agreement. The signing ceremony was held at meeting room 101, His Majesty The King 80th Birthday Anniversary 5th December 2007 (SiMR) Building, 1st Floor, Siriraj Hospital.
Prof. Dr. Apichat Asavamongkolkul said, “Cancer is a critical problem in medicine and public health. It is also the number 1 cause of death for Thai people. Although the treatment efficiency nowadays is well improved and enables to save some patient lives from cancers, the treatment of cancer patients in the advanced and metastatic stages still results in unsatisfactory outcomes. Hence, continuous study, research, and development for novel therapeutic technologies are essential.”
“Cellular immunotherapy-based cancer treatment technology requires several steps of collecting the patient’s immune cells, stimulating or modifying them in vitro, and testing their ability to destroy cancer cells under laboratory conditions. After increasing the number of these effective immune cells, the patients will receive them back for curing cancers. These immune cells are ‘living drugs,’ which are safe and highly effective in treating cancers. However, this therapeutic approach is considered advanced technology. Importing this technology from abroad will incur very high costs. As a result, only a few patients can access this treatment technology. Thailand, therefore, needs to research, develop, and innovate this technology for ourselves. To achieve this goal, equipping our researchers, scientists, and doctors with all the skills required to make this therapeutic technology applicable is also essential. The Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital – Mahidol University, the country’s medical institute, is aware of the advantages of developing cellular immunotherapeutic technology for cancer treatment. We, therefore, established the Siriraj Center of Research Excellence for Cancer Immunotherapy or SiCORE-CIT to support this mission.”
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sith Sathornsumetee added, “In 2015, the Faculty established SiCORE-CIT to develop and innovate research in cellular immunotherapy. We keep training researchers, scientists, and doctors to be experts in this field and also form a research network by joining with either domestic or international agencies and organizations. Moreover, we are working on establishing a Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standard laboratory with a research focus on cancer therapy. All these attempts will further provide cancer patients with diverse treatment options and help improve their quality of life, leading to enhanced public health in Thailand.”
“The Faculty, therefore, joins Wincell Research Co., Ltd. to sign a memorandum of agreement on collaboration in research and development, aiming to research and develop knowledge about the cancer immunotherapeutic technology and innovation, the production of GMP-standardized cancer immunotherapeutic products, and to follow all the requirements and regulations issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of Thailand. We are also ready to establish joining clinical trials to unveil how cellular immunotherapy can benefit the treatment of cancer patients.”
“This collaboration will help enhance and expand research, development, and innovation of Thai medicine, leading to the tangible application of invented technology for curing cancer patients in the future.”