From FVG and ICGEB aid to develop biosimilar drugs in Serbia

(ANSA) - UDINE, 15 GEN - Developing skills to produce biosimilar drugs in Serbia, as well as consolidating the cooperation relationship of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region with that territory. These are the goals of the MabTher project, the launch of which was formalized today by Regional Labor Councillor Alessia Rosolen and ICGEB Director General Lawrence Banks.
    The initiative involves transferring knowledge from ICGEB to the Serbian Institute for the Application of Nuclear Energy to develop and produce the Mab biosimilar drug Trastuzumab, a monoclonal antibody used to treat breast and stomach cancer.
    Serbian researchers and officials, the FVG Region informs, will be supported in acquiring the necessary skills for technology transfer and training in the Biotechnology development unit of Icgeb. Technology transfer will be supervised by ICGEB staff, who will assist Serbian researchers in replicating the process of making Trastuzumab in Serbia using local facilities and industries. Banks remarked that building local manufacturing capacity and skills is a cornerstone for creating local employment, wealth, and stability.
    This pilot initiative involves the transfer of technologies that ICGEB has developed over many years of optimization so that biotherapeutics that meet all Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Pharmacopoeia standards can be transferred to the Serbian industry. These products can then be produced and marketed locally at a lower price than standard international supply chains, thus making health care more affordable and creating jobs at the same time. "Sharing the knowledge and production techniques of these drugs with other nations of our territorial area, such as the Balkans - Rosolen said - makes it possible to overcome the inequalities produced by the pharmaceutical market and produces positive effects, strengthening international cooperation and collaboration." (ANSA).