" The largest technology transfer project in the history of Sardinia ", born from an alliance between the public and private sectors, with the aim of transforming the Island into a laboratory of excellence in the fight against genetic diseases.
These are the premises with which SardGen was born, a medical prevention and research program worth over 50 million euros presented today at the Pula Science and Technology Park and sanctioned by the signing of the agreement by the director of Sardegna Ricerche Carmen Atzori, the rector of the University of Sassari Gavino Mariotti and the councilors for the Budget Giuseppe Meloni and for Health Armando Bartolazzi.
An initiative that combines preventive medicine - biochemical tests available to the entire population - with research and development - on genetic data collected with the consent of citizens in the Biobank - to develop targeted and effective drugs, useful for autoimmune and hematological diseases, very common in Sardinia. A project that has already attracted and will attract researchers from all over the world.
"It is a historic day for Sardinia - the words of the vice president of the Giunta Giuseppe Meloni - we believed in it from the first minute, supporting the project that was being born. We all decided to team up, placing Sardinia at the center of the world. The synergy between institutions was the winning bet to give legs to this project that will allow Sardinians to improve their health and life prospects, and the synergy between institutions is the winning bet for Sardinia that looks to the future".
"I came here privately on January 1, 2024 because scientific research has been my life for 45 years - began the Health Councilor Armando Bartolazzi - and so today is the best day since I have been in Sardinia. Finally the excellence that is present in Sardinia is valued : Professor Cucca is one of these. As an oncologist I can say it: we are facing an international project on genetics that can change the history of medicine with new genetic markers for diagnostics . Investing here means saving, and a lot, in medicines and therapies, just think that a cure for thalassemia for a single person can cost 1.8 million".
THE PROJECT – Started from the idea of the geneticist Francesco Cucca (scientific director of SardGen) and immediately supported by the program manager of e.Ins Gianluca Cadeddu and the rector of the University of Sassari Gavino Mariotti, the project is a public-private partnership. The partner is Impeco, a Swiss company that already works at the Pula Park and is a leader in the automation of clinical analysis laboratories.
On April 17, the Regional Council approved the policy act for the creation of the Sardinian Biobank, a public infrastructure of strategic importance for the strengthening of preventive medicine, scientific research and technology transfer in the biomedical sector. The initiative is co-financed through PNNR funds by the European Union - Next Generation EU (E.ins project: Ecosystem of Innovation For Next Generation Sardinia. Spoke 01) and by the Sardinia Region through the “Genes for health” project aimed at strengthening the research initiative.
The Biobank will be located in the Pula Science and Technology Park , in accordance with the regional government guidelines, and will be a cutting-edge infrastructure for the collection, conservation and analysis of biological samples, essential for promoting the prevention of diseases and the personalization of treatments. It will host research and development activities for the development of new drugs based on in-depth genomic and immunological analyses .
The genetic data collected through the project activities, and with a proven and validated clinical utility for the diagnosis and prevention of disease, may be made available to the regional health system for use in line with the free, specific and informed consent expressed by the candidates participating in the project.
Immediate benefits will come from the execution of a battery of biochemical analyses conducted thanks to the involvement of the three main hospital companies in Sardinia on approximately 50 health parameters and a collection of information on lifestyle and environmental factors for an in-depth medical check-up.
(Unioneonline/vl)
