One-time cell and gene therapies deliver benefits to patients, healthcare systems and society. They also introduce a number of unprecedented complexities in diagnosis, treatment, care, manufacturing and distribution.
Current healthcare systems are designed to actively manage chronic conditions. They are not set up for therapies that are designed to work for a lifetime following a single infusion. At Novartis, we’re collaborating on the cell and gene therapy frontier to bring this revolutionary approach to patients with a variety of diseases including certain deadly cancers.
Novartis advances in Oncology:
Cancer doesn’t stop for COVID19. Each year there are more than 14 million new cases of cancer worldwide and the number of new cancer cases per year is expected to rise to 23.6 million by 2030. Therefore virus or no virus, cancer care must be tackled with collaboration at all levels of society to ensure that people with cancer have guaranteed access to treatments and consultations, no matter what challenges may come.
From our part, as innovative healthcare company, Novartis is determined to revolutionize the development and manufacturing of innovative, high-quality medicines that help to improve and
extend people’s lives. Novartis scientists working in Oncology seek to learn how to wipe out cancers rather than stop their spread. With over 10,000 associates in more than 85 countries, with an unparalleled portfolio of therapies with 22 drugs on the market and a broad pipeline with over 10 new molecular entities in our clinical oncology pipeline, we are one of the largest global developers and providers of practice-changing medicines.
Latest example of such breakthrough innovation are CAR-T therapies. Novartis pioneered the introduction of CAR-T cell therapy as an approved treatment for B-cell malignancies. Since 2012, we have partnered with the University of Pennsylvania, leading to the first approved CAR-T cell therapy in any disease state. This treatment is now approved in two indications for patients with certain blood cancers across four continents— Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America. Novartis is committed to building on this innovation and beyond, researching its CAR-T cell therapy in various clinical trials and constantly seeking new platforms to expand into new areas. CAR-T cell therapy is cutting-edge immunotherapy that uses specifically altered cells from your immune system to fight cancer in your blood.
And here we come to the term “personalized medicine”. All of us are unique individuals, and the idea of treatment tailored to the patient reaches its full meaning in cell and gene therapy, with a potential to treat and even cure many intractable illnesses.
“Novartis in Serbia supported the Government with donation for the supply of medical equipment”
COVID-19 response in Serbia
Novartis in Serbia supported the Government with a donation for the supply of medical equipment as well as patient groups’ programs such as free transfer for patients to clinics, telemedicine project, web conferences and online lectures- enabling patients to establish online contact with healthcare experts during a pandemic. Our associates in Serbia engaged in online volunteering within Am-Cham initiative making available medical literature to the healthcare experts of the Crisis Team of Serbia for the Suppression of COVID-19.
Artificial inteligence
The pandemic made us better understand the growing need of digitalization in all the aspects of life. In healthcare, artificial intelligence (AI) can accelerate drug discovery and health delivery and also shift countries’ health systems from being reactive to proactive – and even predictive.
“The pandemic made us better understand the growing need of digitalization in all the aspects of life”
While healthcare systems are already collecting a variety of health data, the question actually is how they are used for the benefit of patients. Well, used real-time data can inform planning and resource-allocation decisions to reduce costs and improve the overall quality of care, while digitized data collection can help healthcare systems detect risk factors in advance and respond quickly to prevent disease. As a member of Digital Serbia Initiative, we are participating in strategic programs in the areas of public dialogue on digital transformation and innovative e-Health solutions.
INNOVATIVE HEALTHCARE
From our part, as innovative healthcare company, Novartis is determined to revolutionize the development and manufacturing of innovative, high-quality medicines that help to improve and extend people’s lives. Novartis scientists working in Oncology seek to learn how to wipe out cancers rather than stop their spread. With over 10,000 associates in more than 85 countries, with an unparalleled portfolio of therapies with 22 drugs on the market and a broad pipeline.