Clust-ER Health @ USA: the story of the mission

A full immersion in Philadelphia for Clust-ER Health and its partners within the Bridging Innovation program in the field of advanced therapies.

A short but intense mission full of opportunities for discussion, organized in detail by the Art-ER team that deals with internationalization and that allowed to meet and get to know the actors of the local ecosystem: incubators, laboratories, companies and universities that deal with research and entrepreneurship in the field of advanced therapies.

Networking Breakfast @ CIC Philly

A presentation and networking event for the participants of the Bridging Innovation Program – Gene & Cell Therapy, held in the spaces of CIC, a world leader in the creation and management of innovation communities, where we had the opportunity to present the Clust-ER, ART-ER and the innovation ecosystem and the members who participated in the mission and who in the region deal with advanced therapies from different points of view. CIC provides spaces and workshops to promote entrepreneurship, with cutting-edge tools and resources.

Life Sciences Pennsylvania @ Discovery Labs

From downtown Philadelphia to one of the largest life science clusters in the United States. Life Science PA is the trade association for the Commonwealth life sciences industry. Founded in 1989, it works to ensure that Pennsylvania has a corporate and political ecosystem that makes the Commonwealth the most attractive place to open and run businesses in the lifescience sector: biotechnology, medical devices, diagnostics, pharmaceuticals, research and investment, along with a myriad of service providers that support the industry.

B.Labs @ Cira Centre: an important signature

A really important morning, that of June 16, which opened with the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Pennsylvania Government and the Emilia-Romagna Region, represented by President Bonaccini and signed together with the Minister of Economic Development of Pennsylvania. This is the first collaboration agreement signed by the region with a US state and will allow to work on common projects related to new technologies, advanced manufacturing, life sciences and the agri-food sector.

Visit to Spark Therapeutics

A leading gene therapy company with more than 800 employees based in Philadelphia, Spark Therapeutics was founded in 2013 and became a member of the Roche Group in 2019. Its mission is to discover, develop and deliver gene therapies for genetic diseases, including inherited retinal disorders, hemophilia, lysosomal storage disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. Here we met Federico Mingozzi, current chief scientific officer of Spark and from the University of Ferrara, who told about the products and the results achieved in the therapy of rare diseases.

World Affairs Council of Philadelphia

A focus on the actors of advanced therapies in the Emilia-Romagna Region and on the successes achieved was presented by Prof. Graziella Pellegrini of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia on the occasion of the meeting with Lauren Swartz, Chief Executive Officer and President of the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia.

Visit to Thomas Jefferson University

A morning at the prestigious University of Philadelphia, which began with a visit to the College of Population Health, where Prof. Vittorio Maio presented the long collaboration with different entities of the health system of the Emilia-Romagna region, in particular on the use of health data.
Also interesting and stimulating was the visit to the laboratories of the Weinberg Unit for ALS Research, Vickie and Jack Farber Institute for Neuroscience, where we were led by Prof. Piera Pasinelli and Prof. Davide Trotti, co-Directors of the Center for Basic and Transactional Research for the FTA.

Academic Tech Transfer event @ The Curtis

The last stage of the mission was the event dedicated to technology transfer co-financed by IRST and aimed at presenting the ecosystem in the gene and cell therapy field to the representatives of universities and research centers, where the President Stefano Bonaccini, Dr. Cecilia Maini of ART-ER, the Clust-ER manager Sauro Vicini and the Clust-ER members participating in the mission intervened.

Once again the inestimable value of system missions like this is confirmed, where networking and the opportunity to touch a different cultural and scientific context leave their mark on each of us, stimulating new ideas for development and entrepreneurship among the members of our territory.

To learn more:

• International relations. In Philadelphia, the Region signs a Collaboration Agreement with Pennsylvania
• US Mission of the Region: innovations in the life sciences sector at the center of the meetings in Philadelphia

>> Watch the mission summary video