The United Arab Emirates begins the first experiment to produce local immune cell therapy
The Abou Dabi Stem Cell Center has launched the first experiment of its kind in the United Arab Emirates to study the efficacy and safety of immune cell therapy using targeted cell receptors (CAR T-cell) in the treatment of blood cancers.
Dr. Fatima AlKaabi, director of the Bone Marrow Transplants Program in Abou Dabi and the main researcher involved in the immune cells experiment, expressed her pride in this achievement, the first of its kind in the UAE and the region. ”We are proud to be the first entity in the country and the region to produce and conduct this new and innovative type of treatment and research locally to better understand the effects on cancer cells. As a local institute for scientific research, we are committed to contributing to supporting Abou Dabi’s vision of building and strengthening a knowledge economy, and we continue to invest in the latest local research to ensure that the population of the country and the rest of the world receives the best possible health care”.
Immunologist Dr. Yendry Ventura, General Manager of the Abou Dabi Stem Cell Center and Principal Researcher in the Clinical Trial of Immunocell Therapy using the Target Receptor Car T-cell, said: ”Understanding the impact of T-immune cells with the targeted receptors of cancer cells on patients will be a long and arduous process, but at the same time it paves the way for a new and distinguished chapter in the history of the United Arab Emirates. These experiments will establish its distinguished place globally in the field of medical innovation, research and development. Our leading doctors and researchers globally, in collaboration with our partners in Miltenyi Biotec, will contribute to paving the way for advanced treatments for a healthier society, as well as strengthening Abou Dabi’s position as a global center for health care, innovation and research”.
The treatment of immune cells using the targeted receptors of cancer cells (CAR T-cell) is one of the new internationally recognized technologies for immunotherapy, which employs the body’s defense system through reprogramming of immune cells, which is an essential element in the body’s response mechanism to control tumors, preparing them to carry out the tasks of searching for and eliminating cancer. These programmed cells become a live drug that moves through the body and uses the immune system constantly to attack the disease.
