A successful first edition with a promising future

Montreal, March 10th, 2017 - Collaboration, expertise, synergy, innovation. These are some of the vectors of hope emerging from the first pan-Canadian strategic forum Cell & Gene Therapy Revolution: Get Ready!, which has just been concluded in Montreal under the organization of CellCAN.

The dedication of CellCAN to the mobilization of knowledge in cell therapy was key to the success of this major event, which was organized in partnership with the Centre for Commercialization of Cancer Immunotherapy (C3i) and BioCanRX, and bringing together many major players in the field from across the country as well as from abroad. Over two days of exchanges and intensive work, an essential dialogue was incited in order to secure, make accessible and promote this thriving branch of tomorrow’s medicine.

Montreal, at the core of the future

The forum was also the occasion to announce that the 2018 International Society for Cellular Therapy (ISCT) conference, the most important international cell therapy meeting, will be held in Montreal. Dr. Denis-Claude Roy, CEO of CellCAN, was honored to be named one of the three co-chairs of the organizing committee. He said: "The choice of Montréal as host for this major event confirms the role of Canada, Québec and the municipality as a leader in the field of cell therapy."

An enriched forum

During the forum, Janet Rossant, President and Scientific Director of the Gairdner Foundation and Chair of the Steering Committee of the Regenerative Medicine Workshop by the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA), presented the conclusions from the workshop report as well as the challenges and opportunities of regenerative medicine in Canada. One of the findings from this workshop is Canada's great ability to stand out on an international level in cell and gene therapy despite the shortage of funding and intense competition.

It was also during the forum that the creation of the Regenerative Medicine Alliance of Canada (RMAC) was announced, of which CellCAN is one of the founding members. RMAC will support the strategic activities of the sector as a whole. Its members will work collaboratively in order to share their knowledge and identify strategies that will enable the economical growth of the sector.

Following this positive and stimulating meeting, CellCAN will continues its momentum and promises to intensify its work to mobilize knowledge and encourage dialogue amongst stakeholders in the field. The ultimate goal is to advance cell and gene therapies as well as to allow an ever-increasing number of patients to benefit from the most innovative therapies.

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About CellCAN
CellCAN is a nonprofit organization that is part of the Government of Canada’s Networks of Centers of Excellence and was established in April 2014 by Canadian researchers in the field of regenerative medicine and cell therapy. Its mission is to bring together stakeholders and mobilize knowledge across Canada to advance the research and clinical development of regenerative medicine and cell therapy. It aims to improve on the health of Canadians by accelerating and facilitating the development of stem cell therapies. CellCAN strives to fully exploit this potential by providing an unprecedented level of collaboration among all key players in the field of cell therapy by bringing together Canada's leading cell therapy centers whose research teams are working hard to improve our health. 

Media
Florence Meney
514-755-2516

Véronique Arsenault
514-238-6836
forum2017@cellcan.com

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