Holding CSG has been supporting IHBT in the fight against leukemia for more than 1 year.

More than a year ago, holding CSG decided to financially support the elite Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion (IHBT). In April, representatives of CSG visited the institute and discussed the progress of research on immunotherapeutic preparations for the treatment of patients with acute leukemias.

Representatives of CSG, CEO David Chour and Director of Corporate Relations Radim Ochvat, talked with the director of the institution Prof. Petr Cetkovský, MD, the secretary of the institute Andrea Daňková, MSc., Head of ICU Jan Vydra, MD, Head of the AML Group Assoc. Prof. Cyril Šálek, MD, Head of the Department of Cell Therapy Robert Pytlík, MD, and Head of the Department of Immunotherapy Petr Lesný, MD.

The main topic of conversation was the continuation of research on immunotherapeutic preparations for the treatment of patients with acute leukemias – a project that Czechoslovak Group humbly contributes financially to top Czech science. Progress in development is significant, and we believe that the IHBT project will be successfully completed.

IHBT is a prestigious hematological center in the Czech Republic. It is dedicated to congenital, tumor, and very rare diseases. The IHBT team has 500 employees, including about 80 scientists.

The institute has four main pillars of activity: top diagnostics, specialized treatment, production of tailor-made transfusion preparations, and science and research. And it is in the fourth pillar, science and research, that the gift from CSG should play a significant role.

The trend of the last decade in the fight against leukemia is the development of cell therapy using, for example, so-called natural killers (NK). These are cells produced from a donor’s blood „trained“ to destroy tumor cells in the patient’s body. Cell therapy may be particularly useful for those types of tumors that are difficult to treat with chemotherapy and bone marrow transplantation.

The research project and the related financial support from CSG are being implemented over three years. However, anyone can support IHBT, not only financially. (sfr)