The multidisciplinary Center for Cell Therapy and Regenerative Medicine (CCRG) in Antwerp, founded in 2005 by Prof. Dr. Berneman, focuses on the clinical research and the production of innovative cell therapies. Eva Lion is the clinical trial coordinator at CCRG. We are happy that she found some time in her busy schedule to come and to talk to us. She gave us some insights in the clinical trials that are currently ongoing within CCRG, the challenges that they encountered with starting up the trials, the changing regulatory environment and the future of the cell therapies. The following questions were discussed:

00:00 – What is CCRG and what are they doing?
01:03 – For which cell therapies or diseases are clinical trials ongoing?
03:54 – Are only cell therapeutic products based on dendritic cells tested within CCRG or are there other cell therapies in the pipeline?
06:16 – Clinical trials for cell therapies require manufacturing according to GMP regulations. How was and is that organized within CCRG?
08:31 – What are your experiences with starting clinical studies, eg with the interactions with FAGG (FAMHP), the ethics committee, etc.?
11:35 – How are you recruiting patients for your clinical trials, knowing that the therapies are innovative and still quite experimental?
14:14 – How are the various clinical trials in CCRG funded?
16:51 – What are the plans for the products in clinical trials to eventually bring them to the patient?
20:09 – How do you see the future for cell therapies?