Collaborations

Over the last 20 years, the Animal Cell Technology (ACT) Unit has been developing several R&D projects, with a focus on:

• Process development for protein production (including monoclonal antibodies).
• Production of virus-based vaccines and viral vectors for gene therapy (retrovirus and lentivirus, adenovirus, adeno-associated virus, and baculovirus).
• Development of tools and methodologies for cell therapy applications and pre-clinical research (novel 3D in vitro models for toxicology and disease models), namely the use of stem cells (hESC, adult stem cells, and iPS).
• Primary cultures of human hepatocytes, cancer, and brain cells.

Among the several collaborations established with international pharmaceutical companies, the ACT Unit also works closely with many national and international research institutes, foundations, and universities.