Posted on May 6: McMaster University vector laboratory a first for Canada

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Fitzhenry.jpg” caption=”Robert and Andree Fitzhenry “]For scientists, creating new vaccines to treat diseases such as cancer is only part of the puzzle. Equally important are the vectors or delivery agents that will be used to transport the vaccines into a patient's body.

This is a complex process and, until now, there has been no university facility in Canada able to develop vectors suitable for use in people. Scientists have had to go to the United States and wait in line for laboratory space.

Thanks to a $1-million gift from McMaster alumni Robert Fitzhenry to support gene therapeutic research, McMaster University is firmly on the path to a new era in medical discovery.

His gift will establish the Robert E. Fitzhenry Vector Laboratory as the first Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) laboratory in Canada capable of producing vectors for use in clinical trials for patients. GMP is a set of regulations that ensure the identity, potency, safety and purity of pharmaceutical products.

“I was overwhelmed when I learned what a huge stride forward the establishment of this vector laboratory would represent, not only for McMaster but for medical researchers across Canada who would now have access to Canadian produced vectors,” said Fitzhenry, the former vice chair & COO of Woodbridge Foam Corporation in Mississauga, and a graduate of McMaster University in political economy.

“I am particularly excited at the progress these scientists are making in the battle against cancer, as I lost the mother of four of my children to cancer at the extremely young age of 36.” Patricia Turner Fitzhenry died of breast cancer in the 1960s.

The new lab will be built in the new Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Learning and Discovery, a 300,000-square-foot building with state-of-the-art classrooms and laboratories scheduled to open later this year.

McMaster's ability to produce its own vectors will speed the pace of discovery and make it possible for researchers to move new treatments from the laboratory into clinical trials more quickly.

John Kelton, dean and vice-president, health sciences, said: “Because the scientists developing the vectors will be working side-by-side with the doctors performing the clinical trials, they will know instantly how patients respond to the treatments. This will give scientists the opportunity to fine-tune the treatment while the trial is still going on.”

“This 'bench to bedside and back' approach distinguishes McMaster as a leader in innovation,” he said.

McMaster President and Vice-Chancellor, Peter George, knows the University has the critical mass of students, educators, and researchers required to move forward. “But people alone are not enough,” he said. “Bob Fitzhenry's generous gift will assist McMaster in reaching its potential, by providing a physical infrastructure that will attract and retain the best and the brightest.”

“McMaster is ready to make a quantum leap into the future – in the discovery of new medical knowledge and in the way we transfer that knowledge to our students and the medical community,” said George.

“Mr. Fitzhenry's gift is a significant one because, as a McMaster alumnus, he has chosen to support the institution at which he set the foundations for his very successful career in business. As we continue to further the University's mission of outstanding education and research, we value this kind of homegrown support more and more. Alumni, like Bob Fitzhenry, are our greatest resource.”

Jack Gauldie, a leader in gene therapeutics, is a chair of the University's Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, a University professor, and head of McMaster's Institute for Molecular Medicine and Health (IMMH) where the Fitzhenry laboratory will reside.

“McMaster University has one of the finest virology and immunology groups in the country, working to discover gene-based treatments for cancer, infectious diseases such as AIDS, respiratory diseases and gastrointestinal disorders.

“Over the past five years, a number of studies have shown that the Adenovirus vector – the modified common cold virus that forms the basis of the expertise at McMaster – is currently the most potent way to stimulate an immune response by vaccination. These vectors can also be used as genetic medicines to deliver beneficial genes to inhibit inflammation, while others can help modify the body's response to injury,” he said.

“All vectors that are to be used in human vaccines or genetic medicine applications must be produced at the highest level of safe manufacturing, or GMP, and this is subject to demanding regulation by Health Canada. This facility at McMaster will be the only one of its kind at an academic centre in Canada, and one of only a few in North America.”

Photo caption: Robert and Andree Fitzhenry at today's announcement in the Gilmour Hall Council Chambers. Photo credit: Chantall Van Raay