McMaster-Fraunhofer cell therapy centre receives $12 million, more pending

A unique joint project between McMaster Univ and the German-based Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology (Fraunhofer IZI) has received $12 million in commitments from the Government of Ontario, City of Hamilton and McMaster. The funding is the first tranche in an effort to establish the McMaster-Fraunhofer Project Centre for Biomedical Engineering and Advanced Manufacturing (BEAM) in Hamilton.

The early commitments are critical for Fraunhofer to move forward with securing its funding approvals for an amount that has yet to be determined.

Negotiations are ongoing with the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev) for an unspecified contribution.

The BEAM centre will be located in the McMaster Innovation Park. It will focus on the development novel cell therapies, the development and manufacture of automated instrumentation for producing cell therapies, and the development and manufacture of nanoscale diagnostics to serve as companion diagnostics for the cell therapies and point-of-care diagnostics for other markets.

Personalized medicine

Personalized medicine and stem cell research are quickly converging. The BEAM centre's objective is to serve as a commercialization platform for the advanced manufacturing of cell therapies being developed at the McMaster Immunology Research Centre (MIRC). Dr Jonathan Bramson is MIRC's director and holds a cross appointment at Fraunhofer IZI in Leipzig.

If the projet goes forward, it will strengthen Hamilton as a hub in Ontario's life sciences sector and create up to 100 new jobs, attracting scientists and industry researchers from around the world. In addition to providing funding, Fraunhofer IZI will also send a contingent of its researchers to work at the BEAM centre.

Fraunhofer IZI is housed in a 4,500-sq-m, €24-million complex which received an initial 3,000-sq-m extension in 2012. A second major expansion is slated for completion this fall.

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