ICPO Foundation partners with Nuclear Medicine Research Infrastructure (NuMeRI) to establish an ICPO Collaborating Center
2024年7月4日 - 1:00PM
ICPO Foundation partners with Nuclear Medicine Research
Infrastructure (NuMeRI) to establish an ICPO Collaborating Center
This collaboration enhances global educational
benchmarks in radiotheranostics and aims to expand patient access
to a new era of effective cancer therapeutics in South
Africa.
July 4, 2024 – Wiesbaden, Germany, and Pretoria Central,
South Africa. Today, the International Centers for
Precision Oncology (ICPO) Foundation and Nuclear Medicine Research
Infrastructure (NuMeRI) in Pretoria, South Africa announced their
cooperation in establishing the theranostics center as one of the
global ICPO Collaborating Centers. The parties intend to enable a
growing number of patients worldwide access to Radiomolecular
Precision Oncology (RPO) and further promote research and
development in the fields of RPO. Moreover, the NuMeRI will support
the joint development and enhancement of best practice standards in
South Africa and their implementation in professional development
to establish the internationally active "ICPO Academy for
Theranostics."
The ICPO Foundation aims to develop an international network of
physical diagnostic and therapeutic centers dedicated to
Radiomolecular Precision Oncology. It has launched the ICPO Academy
for Theranostics and is driving forward the research of innovative
radiopharmaceuticals. The Foundation's mission is to ensure that
cutting-edge cancer therapies are accessible to patients worldwide.
The ICPO Centers work under a social operating model based on
shared know-how, certified education, and standardized design and
processes that enable the implementation of best clinical practices
on a global scale. The ICPO Foundation has successfully established
ICPO Collaborating Centers in Germany, China, India, Australia and
Egypt. Expansion plans are underway, with upcoming centers in
locations globally.
The Nuclear Medicine Research Infrastructure (NuMeRI), an
integral component within the South African Research Infrastructure
Roadmap (SARIR) of the Department of Science and Technology, serves
as a specialized medical imaging facility with a dedicated focus on
advancing drug development and clinical research in the realm of
nuclear technologies for medicine and biosciences. NuMeRI as a
South African national infrastructure partners with University of
Pretoria, Steve Biko Academic Hospital, NECSA, iThemba Labs and all
South African universities. Operating within the healthcare domain,
NuMeRI fosters a collaborative environment for medical research and
practice, driven by the shared objective of improving public
health. The research conducted at NuMeRI is oriented towards the
development of therapies targeting national priority diseases.
NuMeRI plays a pivotal role in bolstering the public healthcare
sector by providing essential infrastructure that is unique to its
fields and by facilitating the development of critical and scarce
skilled medical professionals. The objectives of NuMeRI align
inherently with the priorities outlined by the National Department
of Health. The infrastructure rollout plan of NuMeRI involved a
phased approach, including establishing an interim pre-clinical
imaging facility at Necsa, Pelindaba, designed to ensure immediate
operations during the construction of the primary NuMeRI site. The
completed infrastructure situated at the Steve Biko Academic
Hospital is now a one-stop shop for imaging and therapy.
The NuMeRI will provide advice and recommendations to the ICPO
Foundation on how precision oncology's international quality
standards, processes, and procedures can be best implemented in
South Africa. The aim of the parties is that the theranostics
center in Pretoria promote the "ICPO Academy for Theranostics" in
South Africa, including at national society meetings, and act as a
point of contact in South Africa for interested parties and
registration of participants. The center will be allowed under ICPO
certification and in alignment with the ICPO Academy curriculum for
practical training of physicians, chemists, physicists, nurses,
technologists, and other participants in its facilities for various
time durations. NuMeRI will provide advice and recommendations to
ICPO on how international quality standards, processes, and
procedures of precision oncology can be best implemented in South
Africa
Odile Jaume, CEO of the ICPO Foundation,
expressed her intense enthusiasm for the partnership, stating:
"This collaboration positions the Theranostics Center NuMeRI in
Pretoria as a leading partner within both the ICPO network and
South Africa, marking a new chapter in cancer care. We aim to
broaden patient access to innovative Radiomolecular Precision
Oncology therapy worldwide and to further develop the ICPO Academy
for Theranostics in collaboration with top-tier partners."
Dr. Mike Sathekge, CEO & President of
NuMeRI, emphasized this commitment: "Collaborating with
the ICPO Foundation, our theranostics center is leading a
transformative shift toward precision oncology in South Africa. The
research infrastructure provided by NuMeRI extends support to
healthcare research and development, benefiting both academic and
commercially driven healthcare entities, including pharmaceutical
and biotechnology companies. As an ICPO Collaboration Center, we
benefit from the global community and exchange with world-class
experts within the foundation."
About ICPO FoundationThe International Centers
for Precision Oncology Foundation (ICPO) is a non-profit
organization established in 2019 under German law by leading
international medical practitioners and life sciences
entrepreneurs. Recognizing a paradigm shift in cancer care from one
size fits all to a personalized approach, the ICPO Foundation is
helping to build momentum to scale global patient access to
Radiomolecular Precision Oncology to support this shift. Therefore,
the ICPO Foundation aims to develop an international network of
physical diagnostic and therapeutic Centers for Precision Oncology
organized in a Social Franchise model based on shared know-how,
certified education with the ICPO Academy for Theranostics, and
design and process standardization that enables best clinical
practice globally. Furthermore, it is the ICPO Foundation's
objective to empower its Centers by embedding them in a highly
inclusive Community that spearheads its model and lives up to the
Precision Oncology promise by making it available to all patients
in need, irrespective of country or social status.
Learn more about the ICPO Foundation at www.icpo.foundation and
the ICPO Academy for Theranostics at www.theranostics.academy
Image caption:
ICPO Foundation signed the contract with Nuclear
Medicine Research Infrastructure (NuMeRI) to establish an ICPO
Collaborating Center and expand patient access to a new era of
effective cancer therapeutics in South Africa: Dr.
Mike Sathekge, CEO & President of NuMeRI; Dr.
Jan Rijn Zeevaart, General Research Manager, NuMeRI; Martin Reuter,
CFO ICPO Foundation; Odile Jaume, CEO ICPO Foundation; Prof.
Richard P. Baum, President of the ICPO Academy for
Theranostics (f.l.t.r.)
Media contact ICPO FoundationSusanne SimonHead
of Communication & CommunityEmail:
susanne.simon@icpo.foundationPhone: + 49 172
8666093www.icpo.foundation