The International Centers for Precision Oncology (ICPO) is a German foundation working to enable growing numbers of Cancer Patients worldwide to get access to highly effective diagnostics and treatments in Radiomolecular Precision Oncology.
Last October 12th and 13th, 2023, the ICPO Foundation has successfully hosted its 3rd ICPO Forum for Theranostics in Precision Oncology physical in the heart of the Science Campus in Garching Munich next to the medical isotope reactors and not far from the world largest Lutetium-177 production facility. ICPO Foundation would like to thank the over 200 hundred participants have attended from 26 different countries in Europe, Africa, India, China, the Middle East, the US, Canada. Besides it is also grateful for the 22 sponsors who have generously supported the event, including Gold sponsors Isotope Technologies Munich SE (ITM) and Novartis.
The ICPO Forum goal was to connect participants across all horizons, including industry, academia, as well as medical and patient societies, associations, foundations, investors, and philanthropists. With its Forum, the ICPO Foundation has brought its Community together and contributed to fulfil its mission to accelerate the paradigm shift in Oncology by implementing a more effective patient-centered focus, irrespectively of race, country, social status and all else.
After official addresses by Mr. Udo J. Vetter, Chairman of ICPO Board of Trustees, Dr. Florian Herrmann, Bavarian Minister of State and Prof. Mike Sathekge, President of WARMTH, keynote lectures were presented by world-class nuclear medicine and oncology experts from Germany, Professor Richard P. Baum, who is also a Trustee of the ICPO Foundation, and Professor Matthias Eiber, as well as from Australia, Professor Andrew Scott and from USA, Professor Oliver Sartor.
At the occasion of its 3rd Forum, the ICPO Foundation has officially launched its ICPO Academy for Theranostics. The main objective of the Academy programme is to disseminate knowledge in Radiomolecular Precision Oncology in order to improve outcome of a patient treated with radiopharmaceutical therapies. The ICPO Foundation would like to acknowledge the Public Private Partnership between the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) and Isotope Technologies Munich SE (ITM) which support made the Chinese pilot of the Academy a unique success.
Complementing the education session, an overview of international certified centers initiatives was presented including the development of the ICPO Centers network. Indeed, ICPO believes that scaling patient access can best be achieved through building a global Community and international network of Precision Oncology Centers based on shared passion, knowledge, standards, training, and blueprints, essentially building a common operating model for dedicated and optimized Precision Oncology Centers.
Moreover, the award ceremony of the 2nd Maurits W. Geerlings Next Generation Award for Outstanding Research and Contributions to Actinium-225 Radiopharmaceuticals took place after the Alpha Therapies session of the ICPO Forum. This year two female researchers jointly won the Award, Dr. Sanjana Ballal from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi, India and Dr. Mariza Vorster from the Kwa-Zulu Natal and Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital in South Africa. Prof. Mike Sathekge, who had led the Selection Committee, and Dr. Richard Henkelmann from Isotope Technologies Munich SE (ITM) chaired the ceremony and congratulated the winners. Both Dr. Ballal and Dr. Vorster are dedicated to translating their research into tangible patient benefits and advancing the use of this highly promising therapy, which is aligned with the mission of the ICPO Foundation.
Other sessions were articulated around efforts towards increased patient access, innovation and technology advances, supply chain scale up and delivery of radiopharmaceuticals up to the bedside. All Forum sessions were extended by constructive multidisciplinary panel discussions aimed at opening new avenues to critical global issues for patient care today in the field of Radiomolecular Precision Oncology.
Thus, with its 3rd Forum edition, the ICPO has stood for its mission to support the Community, science, training, and expansion of patient access worldwide in Precision Oncology in an inclusive and collaborative approach and has paved the way to the next Forum edition in 2025!
Moreover, to make a donation or become a Member of the ICPO Foundation, as Friend, Supporter or Partner, please visit the website www.icpo.foundation.
About ICPO Foundation
The International Centers for Precision Oncology Foundation (ICPO) is a non-profit organization established in 2019 under German law by leading international medical practitioners and life sciences entrepreneurs. Recognizing a paradigm shift in cancer care from one size fits all to a personalized approach, the ICPO Foundation is helping to build momentum to scale global patient access to Radionuclide Molecularly Targeted Precision Oncology to support this shift. To scale patient access, the ICPO Foundation aims to develop an international network of physical diagnostic and therapeutic Centers for Precision Oncology organized in a Social Franchise model based on shared know-how, certified education, and design and process standardization that enables best clinical practice globally. Furthermore, it is the ICPO Foundation’s objective to empower its Centers by embedding them in a highly inclusive Community that spearheads its model and lives up to the Precision Oncology promise, by making it available to all patients in need, irrespective of country or social status.
Recently the ICPO foundation has closed collaborations with renowned medical associations such as WARMTH (World Association of Radiopharmaceuticals and Molecular Therapies) and is establishing the ICPO Academy for Theranostics as a globally available e-learning platform.
Learn more at: www.icpo.foundation and www.theranostics.academy