PORT Polish Center for Technology Development signs a strategic agreement with Roche Polska

• One of the key research and development organizations, PORT Polish Center for Technology Development, has established cooperation with Roche Polska – a leader among companies delivering innovative solutions in the field of health protection. It is the first cooperation of that kind between PORT and a private investor.
• The partners declared in the agreement their cooperation for development of biotechnology and genomic profiling in Poland, the beneficiaries of which will be the Polish patients.
• The cooperation of PORT and Roche Polska is the first step on the way to start developing genomic databases – open for Polish scientists – of patients with tumours.

The Strategy for Responsible Development, adopted by the Government in 2017, has set out new development directions for many fields, including science and biotechnology. Research institutions, scientific centers as well as private investors are planning actions the final effect of which should be a measurable input to Polish economy and – what comes with it – a growth of innovativeness and reindustrialization.

The plan is already put into action by PORT Polish Center for Technology Development in Wrocław and Roche Polska – an innovative pharmaceutical industry company and a leading investor in the field of health protection in Poland. On December 10th 2018 a letter of intent of cooperation between both partners in the field of development of biotechnology and genomic profiling was signed in Wrocław.

Such public-private partnerships as the one started by PORT and Roche Polska are one of the main elements which can stimulate economy and support the introduction of innovative solutions. They also fit into the Strategy for Responsible Development, which was stressed during the ceremony by Piotr Dardziński, the Secretary of State in the Ministry of Science and Higher Education: – The development of today’s science is not possible without an international cooperation. I am happy that the Roche company recognizes the potential and is able to pay attention to what is happening in Poland. We need a reliable Partner which will help us to indicate the research areas and processes which need to be developed and the problems in the field of biotechnology to be resolved. This cooperation is the best example of implementing the following steps in the Strategy for Responsible Development.

A close cooperation of research and science centers with business is a stimulus affecting the operations of both entities – traders support research and science centers not just financially, but they also share their experience, resources and know-how.

The partners’ declarations in the concluded agreement included their exchange of experience in the field of developing new medicines, exchange of knowledge of the newest trends in biotechnology and bioinformatics as well as of organizing the research projects selection processes.

– Biotechnology will be one of the elements shaping the future of the world. The awareness of this fact is present in those decision-making centers on which the further development of our country depends – at the Prime Minister’s Office, at the Ministry of Science and Higher Education or at the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Technology, as well as at PORT, therefore it constitutes one of the key pillars of our strategy – comments Piotr Dytko, President of PORT Polish Center for Technology Development. – The cooperation with Roche Polska is for us a new experience which can influence the outcomes of the operations realized at our center, making us at the same time the pioneers which set the new guidelines of biotechnology development in our country.

The cooperation of PORT and Roche Polska is the first step on the way to start developing genomic databases of patients with tumours that are open for Polish scientists. The creation of such databases will provide much more precise information to the scientists about the gene sequences, making it a lot easier to search and indicate the genes and their mutations responsible for the diseases and their development. Nowadays, it is also an essential tool for comparison and analysis which can contribute to the development of new, more precise and effective therapies for the patients.

– The medicine has entered a next, groundbreaking stage of genomic profiling. The patients already have the excess to the more and more progressive treatment based on the personalized medicine, which is very effective – points out Wiktor Janicki, Director General of Roche Polska. – We are not just a producer of innovative pharmaceuticals, but also a partner of Polish economy. The cooperation with Polish scientific centers is one of our priorities. It was not once when the Polish scientists showed to the world that their ideas can change the paradigm of the illnesses affecting society. Thanks to the cooperation with PORT Polish Center for Technology Development we create a yet another space for developing advanced solutions in our country which are a stimulus boosting the Polish economy.

Contacts with the media:
Klaudia Piątek, Head of the Communication Department, PORT Polish Center for Technology Development
e-mail: komunikacja@port.org.pl, tel. +48 519 186 532
Izabella Dessoulavy-Gładysz, Patient Outreach and External Communications Manager, Roche Polska
e-mail: izabella.dessoulavy-gladysz@roche.com; tel. +48 505 197 422

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PORT Polish Center for Technology Development is a research and development organization focused on the development of new technologies by conducting research for the needs and in cooperation with the industry. PORT is a network of specialized scientific-research and technological laboratories as well as measurement and specialist laboratories, which are concentrated in 6 research areas: Biobank, The Area of: Biotechnology, Nanobioengineering, Special Materials, Photonics and Electronics, Analytics. Each of the areas brings together several specialized laboratories. Thanks to this, a given area can focus on selected scientific and technological issues and carry out both scientific and research work as well as pilot studies for industry in a comprehensive way. All laboratories of the PORT Polish Center for Technology Development are equipped with the highest-class research equipment that allows conducting application research with the highest quality standards.

Roche Polska is a leader among the companies delivering innovative solutions in the field of health protection. Apart from its basic operations, the Roche company has been making multi-million investments in research and development in Poland for many years. Just in the years 2014-2017 it has contributed PLN 2.1 billion to this purpose. Poland is the country where two of the leading Roche centers operate: The Regional Clinical Research Center for CEE and the Roche Global IT Solution Centre which deals with bioinformatics and supports the work of over 91 thousand employees in over 100 countries. In Poland the company cooperates also with leading higher education establishments, including the University of Warsaw and the Medical University of Lodz.