On March 25, the Shanghai Clinical Research and Trial Center (the Center) and Cytiva officially signed a strategic cooperation agreement. The two parties will engage in deep collaboration in the cutting-edge fields of cell and gene therapy, jointly establishing an Advanced Cell Therapy Technology Clinical Application Demonstration Platform. The initiative aims to bridge the entire chain from basic research to industrial application, accelerating the translation of innovative therapies to benefit patients.
Unveiling Ceremony of the demonstration platform.
The signing ceremony was witnessed by Xu Lai, deputy head of Pudong New Area, and Zhai Jinguo, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission. Jiang Ge, vice president of ShanghaiTech University; Zhu Chouwen, director (President) of the Center; and Christopher Riley, CEO of Cytiva, attended the ceremony. Lei Ying, scientific director of the Center, and Yuan Ming, general manager of Cytiva’s Research and Clinical Operations Company in China, signed the agreement on behalf of both parties.
Lei Ying (right) and Yuan Ming (left) signing the agreement.
In his speech, Zhu Chouwen stated that this collaboration with Cytiva to build a clinical application demonstration platform represents a key step for the Center in advancing the high-quality translation of cell therapy from research to clinical application and then to industrial development. The two parties will work together to strengthen full-chain collaboration, jointly cultivate industry professionals, and promote process and quality standardization, thereby supporting the development of Shanghai’s healthcare system and biopharmaceutical industry toward higher standards and greater excellence.
Zhu Chouwen
Li Lei, president of Cytiva China, remarked in his speech that the Center’s commitment to building the “basic research–clinical translation–industrial application” chain is highly aligned with Cytiva’s vision. This cooperation marks a deeper partnership following their previous training collaboration base. The Center has already been equipped with a full suite of Cytiva research platforms and cell therapy product lines. In 2026, the two parties will complete two phases of cell expansion and production projects through Cytiva’s Fast Trak program. They will jointly build a cell therapy manufacturing service platform for hospitals in Shanghai and explore new models of industry service.
Li Lei
As a research-oriented hospital approved by the Shanghai Municipal Government and entrusted to ShanghaiTech University for construction and management, the Center focuses on major diseases such as oncology and neurological disorders. This collaboration leverages Cytiva’s technological strengths in process development and scale-up, achieving deep integration between clinical research resources and bioprocess development capabilities. The two parties will work together to establish an efficient, compliant, one-stop industrial service system, addressing the bottlenecks in innovative therapy translation. The platform will primarily serve cell and gene therapy clinical research in the East China region, accelerating the safe and effective clinical application of cutting-edge technologies.
Looking ahead, the Center will continue to deepen industry-academia-research-medicine synergistic collaboration, improve the innovation and translation ecosystem for cell and gene therapy, and provide strong support for enhancing the innovation capacity of the regional biopharmaceutical industry.