CHA Medical & Bio Group, a global leader in stem cell research based in South Korea, has announced plans to establish the CHA Power Aging Research Translational Institute in Los Angeles. The institute will focus on advancing comprehensive stem cell treatments through stem cell and gene therapy.

CHA PARTI, a collaborative research institute involving CHA Biotech, CHA University and CHA Medical & Bio Group, is scheduled to open later this year. The facility will be equipped with a state-of-the-art micro-manipulator for somatic stem cell reproduction. It also features cell culture facilities in a sterile clean laboratory.

The institute will have five resident researchers dedicated to the establishment of NT-ESCs, and embryonic stem cells and gene editing research using established stem cells. The research will be conducted in consultation with Shoukhrat Mitalipov, Ph.D., from Oregon Health & Science University, who also serves as an advisory professor at CHA University. The CHA Bio Complex, Korea’s largest biomedical-research organization with 1,000 researchers, will also contribute to the advancements in stem cell research conducted by CHA PARTI.

The institute will include its bio and medical network, spanning from research and development to commercialization. Matica Biotech, a subsidiary of CHA Biotech, opened a cell and gene therapy CDMO facility last year in Texas and will produce stem cell-based therapies for a clinical trial. CHA Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, a nationally recognized acute care facility, has been selected as a site for stem cell therapy clinical trials and will eventually administer them for patient treatment once approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

In 2019, CHA Biotech and CHA University Medical Center jointly applied for a patent to establish NT-ESC lines using somatic cells with low immune rejection, along with long-term storage technology. Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent cells, which can be altered into any type of human cell, offering the potential for regeneration of diseased or damaged tissue. CHA Medical & Bio Group developed the somatic cell nuclear transfer technology enabling the generation of embryonic stem cells with reduced immune rejection and ensuring their safe storage.

CHA Health Systems, headquartered in Pan-gyo Korea, is a global leader in the biotechnology industry. CHA Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, which is part of CHA Health Systems, is located at 1300 N. Vermont Ave. For information, visit hollywoodpresbyterian.com and chahealthcare.com.