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With IRMB, tomorrow’s medicine is taking shape in the greater Montpellier area

Information updated on 21/11/22

The Institute of Regenerative Medicine and Biotherapies focuses on personalized reparative medicine, deploying innovative biotherapies based on stem cells. Know-how at research’s cutting edge.

Christian Jorgensen, le directeur de l’IRMB. Ph. Pierre BRUYNOOGHE

Christian Jorgensen, director of IRMB ©Pierre Bruynooghe

In the near future, treatment for pathologies such as rheumatoid arthritis, arthrosis, diabetes, liver diseases, rare genetic diseases, and more will benefit from original solutions developed by IRMB, the Institute of Regenerative Medicine and Biotherapies, located in the Saint-Eloi hospital at the Montpellier University Hospital Center (CHU), in partnership with University of Montpellier and Inserm.

Regenerating cartilage

One of the biotechnologies targeted by the institute consists of rebuilding damaged cartilage How? By implanting the patient’s stem cells in a gel, or “bio ink”, that exactly reproduces cartilage shape using a 3D printer. Once integrated, the stem cells colonize the gel until they replace it entirely. This gives the patient high-quality, functional, and perfectly adapted cartilage, a tissue that generally has a reputation for regenerating very little and scarring poorly.

That is what personalized regenerative medicine is all about. What was considered as science fiction a few years ago is now on the verge of becoming reality with the Cartigen solution, a unique project in Europe, with support from the Montpellier CHU and University of Montpellier through IRMB. “This project will make it possible to develop new solutions to replace any cartilage in the human body,” explains Christian Jorgenses, director of the institute. Representing a total budget of 9 M€, the project receives financial support from Occitanie Region, which allocated 6.4 M€ in European Feder funding to the company.

The amount committed by regional authorities is significant, as IRMB is at the cutting-edge of cellular therapies. The institute’s mission is to increase biological knowledge about stem cells, their interactions with immune cells in the human body, and the role of epigenetics in mechanisms related to chronic diseases and aging.

IRMB develops diagnostics and therapeutic techniques, while also facilitating clinical transfers towards innovative medical applications for biological research on stem cells. The institute not only focuses on cartilage problems, but also on inflammatory and auto-immune diseases, and musculoskeletal, liver, and blood pathologies... The list is long.

IRMB benefits from a solid group of experts and specialists to carry out its missions, combining their know-how on innovative applications for regenerative and immunotherapy medicine. With over 150 people, the team comprises scientists, doctors, engineers, technicians, and administrative staff. Its teams are distributed across four excellence centers: osteoarticular - mesenchymal; reprogramming - aging; macrophages and immunotherapy; and NK (“natural killer”) lymphocytes.

Cyborg, an incubator with a focus on biotechnologies

IRMB works closely with Cyborg, a startup incubator specialized in biotechnologies. Led by the Montpellier CHU, with active support from Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole as part of the Metropolitan Innovation Pact signed with French national authorities, IRMB incubates eleven promising startups, including: Ingraalys (cell reprogramming), SeqOne (solution for analyzing patients’ genome data, SpotToLab (blood diagnostics and biological analysis kit, Stem Genomics (routine diagnostics test, stem cell quality control), Bauerfeind (osteo-articular cell therapy), and MedXCell. This latter company is setting up an industrial bioproduction center whose goal is to provide the European market with stem cells cultivated in controlled atmosphere bioreactors.

Another important point is that a university degree in regenerative medicine was created recently. Open to doctors, pharmacists, and biologists, the degree is based on a one-year program.

“The program’s first class comprises about thirty students,” rejoices Christian Jorgensen.

This degree joins two other currently available Master’s programs. The first focuses on therapeutic trial management applied to biotherapies; the second covers experimental regenerative medicine.

A unique cluster in France

The group formed by IRMB, the Cartigen platform, and Cyborg will soon be joined by a fourth unit: the Center for Cell Therapy and Immunotherapy (CTCI), dedicated to clinical applications for the research produced by the other three units.

“We are creating a cluster that is unique in France,” observes the IRMB director, whose institute also devotes part of its work to COVID-19 via the CovXCell program launched six months ago, focusing on developing selective immunotherapies as a complement to vaccines.

“We should be able to contribute to the fight against this coronavirus,” concludes Christian Jorgensen, who, with his colleague Serge Perrot, codirected the production of a care-giver’s guide entitled “Treatments and Covid-19: Issues and scientific reality.” The guide was published in October 2020 under the auspices of APNET, the French National College of Therapeutic Teachers.

IRMB’s know-how is another significant asset for Montpellier’s Med Vallée project.