Dehghani Firouzabadi continued: Stem cell technology, regenerative medicine and gene therapy are among the areas that create power, as well as create wealth and jobs, and should be given attention and support both in the sphere of governance and in the sphere of private sector and investment.

The Vice President of Science, Technology and Knowledge-Based Economy stated that the treatment of children suffering from incurable diseases is a big and effective step in having a powerful Iran, and continued: saving the life of a child is not only saving a person, his family or his relatives, but It is a step towards enjoying a bright and better future for our beloved Iran.

Emphasizing that today's health sector needs advanced and innovative methods that provide definite and lasting answers to the needs of the health sector, he continued: methods and products of cell therapy, tissue engineering, gene therapy and other related fields can not only respond to complex needs in the field of health, but they will be creators of high added value. It is on this basis that it is among the first priorities in societies that want sustainable development.

Dehghani Firouzabadi, emphasizing the necessity of the private sector investors to play a role in the field of stem cells for the development of this field, said: due to the relatively cheap and capable manpower of our country, this field has a very good capacity for progress and is among many fields and is considered favorable for investment.

The vice president of science, technology and knowledge-based economy continued: dear donors and smart and forward-looking investors of our country have a significant contribution in this progress. Stem cell technology and related knowledge is one of the promising fields that will bring significant blessings and benefits by supporting and investing in it. I invite all the actors who think about the bright future of dear Iran to invest in this field, hoping that our country will reach such a progress in the near future that we will not see any sick children in our country.

Development of health tourism with the help of stem cell technology

Referring to the serious support in the development of technological health, the vice president of science, technology and knowledge-based economy said: "Definitely, the health field is one of the serious priorities of this vice presidency's support agenda, and we have serious plans for the development of this field." Knowledge-based and technological companies can be the arm of technological health development, and in this direction, we have prioritized supporting advanced treatment methods, especially based on stem cells.

Pointing to the creation of a suitable platform for the supply of Iran's capabilities in the field of health and treatment beyond the borders of the country, he said: In addition to being a main health tourism base, Iran should take steps to create its own health tourism bases in other parts of the world. The establishment of these bases beyond the borders of the country and the penetration of this technological capability to other countries is one of the priority programs in the Vice Presidency of Science, Technology and Knowledge-Based Economy.

Dehghani Firouzabadi, referring to Iran's capacity to export achievements in the field of health, said: in addition to meeting the domestic demand for advanced products and services in the field of treatment, there must be serious plans for the export of these services and products. Iran has the capacity to become one of the hubs of health tourism.

Vice President of Science, Technology and Knowledge-Based Economy, by stating that in the comprehensive centers of stem cells, Tehran University of Medical Sciences and knowledge-based companies, conducted very valuable actions and have led to transformative achievements: the efforts of researchers and technologists in research centers and knowledge-based companies, It has brought good achievements so that more than 6 products have received the license of the Food and Drug Organization, but this is not the end of the road and the continuation of this path is full of hope and areas of progress. Medicines and advanced treatment methods are offered with increasing speed and momentum by educated young people with creative and innovative minds, with higher quality and much lower prices than foreign samples, and can open the doors of international markets to domestic capabilities.

He stated that many researchers were trained and concentrated in this field and with the work done in this field, more than 1500 researchers, specialists and technologists are working in the field of stem cells. Cell-based treatment methods are among the new and expensive methods, and in the world, gene therapy and cell therapy are carried out with huge costs because they have a very complex technology and are mainly used in the treatment of incurable and incurable diseases.

The fruition of more than two decades of effort

Amir Ali Hamidieh, Secretary of Stem Cell Technology Development and Regenerative Medicine Headquarters in the Vice Presidency of Science, Technology and Knowledge-Based Economy, referring to the beginning and progress of the cell therapy process in our country, said: The first successful gene therapy in Iran was the CAR T CELL method in September 2022. It was performed at the Children's Medical Center Hospital affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences.

The head of the stem cell transplant department of the Children's Medical Center continued: This great scientific progress in the country is a collaboration between the Children's Cell and Gene Therapy Research Center at the Cell and Tissue Gene Research Institute in Tehran University of Medical Sciences with a knowledge-based company in the Comprehensive Center for Stem Cells and Medicine. The reconstruction of this university has been done and has been achieved.

Hamidiyeh said about the person on whom this treatment method was successful: a 5-year-old male patient with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, who had 3 relapses and did not respond properly to common chemotherapy treatments. Due to not having a suitable donor for stem cell transplantation and being resistant to chemotherapy, the patient was a candidate for gene therapy. After more than two months of injecting CAR-T cells into the bone, the patient has appropriate clinical conditions without the presence of malignant cells in the blood and brain.

He continued: With the cooperation of Tehran University's Comprehensive Stem Cell Center and a Knowledge-Based Company, the necessary preparations were made to prepare the patient for the injection of cardiac cells. With the final evaluation and quality control of the work, Car T cells were injected into the patient. The results showed that the Iranian product made by this knowledge-based company was very efficient and 28 days after the injection, the blast in the blood decreased to a great extent and the patient's condition improved.

Superspecialist of blood, cancer and children's stem cell transplantation, stating that continuous efforts in research and development of technological methods of cell therapy and gene therapy have progressed so well over the years that the field of work on the treatment of 70 other types of diseases was also provided. In addition to the variety of diseases that were transplanted, the transplantation of other departments was also developed, including the stem cell bank, which was launched with the support of the vice presidency of science. Also, the National Donor Network platform was launched and then transferred to the Ministry of Health. The children's stem cell transplant department was transferred to the children's medical center in 2016 and the activities have been continuing since then.

He stated that the development of treatment methods, products and equipment in this field today is supported by knowledge-based companies, and continued: If we consider the three branches of this field as cell therapy, gene therapy and tissue engineering, the gene therapy sector is the market-making and priority sector of this sector. It is a field and it is among the support priorities for creating added value and improving health.

An innovative way to treat an incurable disease

For the first time in the country, with the help of academic researchers and activists of knowledge-based companies, using an innovative method, a treatment for a type of leukemia in children has been provided, which is based on cell and gene therapy. In this method, treatment with chimeric antigen receptor T cells or CAR-T treatment is performed. This method helps T lymphocytes to fight certain types of cancer. T lymphocytes are parts of the body's immune system that identify foreign cells and help kill them.

One of the advantages of cell therapy with CAR-T cells is that it can treat patients whose leukemia or lymphoma has not responded to chemotherapy and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. It is considered a successful and long-term treatment for people with leukemia or lymphoma who have not responded to any other treatment.

Other advantages of this method include targeting a wide range of tumor antigens, the ability to identify malignant cells that have escaped the recognition of the immune system, the absence of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) compared to hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, shortening The time of the patient's stay in the hospital, the decrease in dietary restrictions and the patient's social communication after this treatment.

Car-T therapy gives the patient's T cells the right receptors to bind to cancer cells so the immune system can destroy them. The process of manipulating T cells to fight cancer, which is actually a kind of gene therapy; The treatment is called CAR-T.

Communication and Information Center in the Vice Presidency of Science, Technology and Knowledge-Based Economy