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Umicore donates 5,000 euros to the pediatric oncology department at the University Hospital of Würzburg

Regional website Germany
  • For the fifth time, Umicore is donating 5,000 euros to the Würzburg Parents’ Initiative for Children with Leukemia and Cancer
  • At its Hanau site, Umicore develops key active ingredients for cancer treatment drugs

For the fifth consecutive year, the Precious Metals Chemistry business unit of the materials technology and recycling group Umicore is donating to the Parents’ Initiative for Children with Leukemia and Cancer at the University Children’s Hospital in Würzburg. “I am impressed by what the association does to help everyone affected in this difficult situation. That is why we are pleased to once again support this important work with a donation of 5,000 euros," said Michael Schwarz, Director of Global API Business, during a meeting with representatives of the association and the University Children’s Hospital Würzburg.

Umicore produces active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) that are crucial for cancer treatment. At its Hanau site, the company works on these substances and contributes to global cancer treatment in the field of highly active APIs.

Each year, the University Children’s Hospital cares for approximately 100 children and adolescents ranging in age from a few weeks to 18 years, who are admitted and treated as inpatients or in the outpatient clinic for a newly diagnosed malignant disease. While medical advances have significantly improved the chances of recovery, the path to a complete cure remains fraught with immense challenges for the children and their families. With this donation, Umicore supports important research projects, including the development of novel therapeutic approaches such as tumor vaccines or the production of tumor-specific immune cells. The goal of the Würzburg researchers is to achieve a long-term cure for affected children and adolescents.

"Thanks to Umicore’s tremendous support over the past few years, we have been able to develop a novel therapeutic approach for children and adolescents whose brain tumors recur despite intensive treatment, which will be used in a clinical trial starting in January 2018. This immunotherapy, which is specifically tailored to each patient, opens up entirely new possibilities that could also benefit adult patients with other types of cancer in the long term," explains Professor Dr. Paul-Gerhardt Schlegel, Head of the Department of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology, and Stem Cell Transplantation at the University Children’s Hospital Würzburg.

Caption:

Michael Schwarz (1st from left), Umicore, presents a donation check for 5,000 euros to the Pediatric Oncology Department at the University Children’s Hospital Würzburg.