Miltenyi Biotec, a global leader in biomedical solutions, has announced the signing of a Letter of Intent with the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), an autonomous institute of the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology.

With this partnership, both organisations aim to address the growing need for innovative treatments in the fight against cancer by developing innovative cell and gene therapies. The announcement was made during THSTI's 15th Foundation Day Celebrations.

The purpose of this collaboration is to focus on leveraging the strengths of both organisations to enhance research and development in cell and gene therapy (CGT) focusing on cancer and sickle cell disease.

This collaboration would help in capacity building, technology transfer, training programmes, and joint research initiatives which would then be translated into medical therapies. 

The letter of intent was signed by Sivakumar Natarajan - Managing Director (Interim), MiltenyiBiotec, India; Dr Prudwidhar S - Country Medical Affairs Director at Miltenyi Biotec and Prof. Ganesan Karthikeyan, Executive Director, BRIC-Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (BRIC-THSTI) in the presence of Dr Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (IC) Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India and Dr Rajesh S Gokhale, Director General, BRIC, and Secretary, Department of Biotechnology.

“Each year, more than 10,000 patients are treated with cell products using Miltenyi Biotec’s technologies. Through our partnership with THSTI, we aim to help bring new therapies to patients with high unmet medical needs in disease areas where traditional treatments have fallen short,” emphasised Sivakumar Natarajan.

Prof G Karthikeyan said, “The partnership with Miltenyi Biotec represents one more step in THSTI’s translational efforts. With our cutting-edge science and expertise in clinical trials, we hope to make tailored, state-of-the-art cancer treatments affordable & accessible to our population.”

Miltenyi Biotec was launched in India in February 2024, at the back of BioAsia Summit, held in Hyderabad.