Yesterday morning, Prof. Dr. Mahmoud El-Metini, President of Ain Shams University, met with a foreign delegation representing one of the international companies working in the field of gene therapy, where the two sides reviewed the mechanisms of prospective cooperation in the field of gene therapy. Dr. Abdel Fattah Saud, Vice President for Education and Student Affairs, Prof. Dr. Ashraf Omar, Dean of the College of Medicine and Chairman of the University Hospitals Board of Directors, Prof. Dr. Ali Al-Anwar, Executive Director of University Hospitals, Prof. Dr. Walid Anwar, Director of Ain Shams Specialized Hospital, Prof. Dr. Nagia Ali Fahmy, Professor of Neurology and Director of the Musculoskeletal Diseases Unit at Ain Shams University, Prof. Dr. Maha Mohamed Sayed, Head of the Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, and Prof. Dr. Azza Abdel Nasser, Director of the Neurology Unit at Ain Shams Medicine.

During the meeting, Prof. Dr. Mahmoud El-Metini reviewed the successful steps taken by Ain Shams University in introducing gene therapy in Egypt, noting that Ain Shams Specialized Hospital was a pioneer in performing the first genetic injection process, in March 2021.

The first three injections were followed by the announcement of the presidential initiative to treat and inject muscular dystrophy patients at the expense of the state and with the support of the Long Live Egypt Fund, which contributed to the arrival of the cases that were injected within 15 months to 40 cases nationwide, including 20 cases in Ain Shams University hospitals and the rest in the Ministry of Health and the armed forces.

Prof. Dr. Mahmoud El-Metini, praised the efforts and efficiency of the medical staff at Ain Shams Specialized Hospital, which includes faculty staff and medical staff at the highest level in all specialties, pointing out that Ain Shams University is keen to prepare young medical cadres and transfer expertise to them in this field to create successive generations capable of dealing with the important type of treatment.

He explained that the Gene Therapy Center at Ain Shams University began many experiments and research in the field of diagnostic treatment, which is the latest treatment methods in the world because it links the genetic map of each patient to the appropriate treatment method for him, which increases the importance of the Egyptian genome project.

He added that cooperation with international partners in the field of gene therapy is the first of cooperation in Egypt, as the selection of Ain Shams University, representing the Arab Republic of Egypt, was among only 50 global centers around the world.

Prof. Dr. Nagia Fahmy that the Gene Therapy Center at Ain Shams University Hospitals, as well as the Muscular and Neurological Diseases Unit, which was established 25 years ago in Ain Shams Medicine, succeeded in treating the first case of an Egyptian child with genetic injection and was able to provide services that were not present in diagnosis and treatment, and the unit seeks to be a center in Egypt For research and clinical and clinical trials on genetic and hereditary diseases, which will provide treatment in Egypt at an acceptable price, especially with the direction of pharmaceutical companies, including the Egyptian ones, for research in this field.

She added that it is expected to cooperate with Ain Shams University Hospitals to conduct clinical trials for spinal muscular atrophy, which includes injecting children with spinal muscular atrophy with gene therapy from two to 18 years old.

The meeting was followed by a visit to Ain Shams Specialized Hospital and the Gene Therapy Center at Ain Shams University.