"Personalised medicine is now a reality, not just an aspiration"

Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies, (a subsidiary of Terumo Corporation, Japan) is at the forefront of advancing blood- and cell-based therapies. In an interview with BioSpectrum Asia, Antoinette Gawin, President and CEO,Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies outlines the company’s current strategy, key projects, the importance of the APAC region, and her perspective on evolving trends in the industry.

- Antoinette Gawin

Can you share how the company's focus has evolved since its founding, and what areas are central to Terumo's current strategy?

We are part of Terumo, a global company that has been contributing to society through healthcare for over 100 years. Headquartered in Japan, our name comes from our first innovation - the humble thermometer. Our division, Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies (Terumo BCT), began as a Colorado-based startup 60 years ago, innovating around equipment that collects and processes our fragile, yet powerful, blood and cells.

Today, our portfolio has grown beyond equipment, providing data management, optimisation services and clinical expertise to expand the application of transfusion medicine and increase access to the foundational power of blood as an essential medicine. This includes expanding therapeutic applications of our current filtration technology, enabling treatment of cancers with stem cell transplants, while shaping the source materials to fuel plasma-derived therapies and emerging cell therapies that address rare diseases.

What major trends in the healthcare industry do you see shaping the future of your product lines and how is Terumo adapting to these changes?

Personalised medicine is now a reality, not just an aspiration. Each human has unique blood and a unique genetic profile. As we learn more about specific diseases and patient populations, our apheresis technology can filter blood for genetically inherited anomalies, such as the sickle cell-shaped red cell in those with sickle cell disease, then replace it with a healthy red blood cell. We can tailor the collection of cells to improve the success rate of cell therapy or tailor the focus of starting material needed to discover a permanent cure. As we deepen our knowledge of genomics, proteomics and the function of specific cell types, we can filter even more selectively and tailor treatments to a specific patient.