02 October 2025
Press
- Biothérapies innovantes
Sickle cell anemia, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, severe systemic scleroderma, dermatomyositis, myasthenia gravis... So many rare, serious and often incurable diseases for which new perspectives are opening up thanks to innovative therapies. To structure and accelerate this research, F-CRIN (French Clinical Research Infrastructure Network) has just accredited CLEIO (Centres Labellisés d'Expertise en thérapies InnOvantes), a national network of 11 expert university hospital centers. Its aim: to give patients, both children and adults, faster and fairer access to clinical trials of gene and cell therapies.
A national network at the service of patients and innovation
Coordinated by Pr Vincent Laugel (Strasbourg University Hospitals), with Pr Michaela Semeraro (Necker-Enfants Malades, AP-HP) and Pr Grégory Pugnet (Toulouse University Hospital), CLEIO federates 11 clinical investigation centers (CIC) spread across France. Its main missions are to:
- Structure the French ecosystem to facilitate and accelerate the deployment and conduct of clinical trials in innovative therapies (ATMPs), including gene and cell therapies and tissue engineering, excluding cancer ;
- Accelerate access for patients, adults and children, to these therapeutic innovations;
- Strengthen collaboration between university hospital teams, manufacturers, patient associations and health authorities;
- Anticipate the logistical, regulatory and ethical challenges associated with these breakthrough treatments.
- To increase the visibility and attractiveness of French clinical research at European and international level.
CLEIO draws in particular on the experience of F-CRIN networks such as OrphanDev (rare diseases) and PEDSTART (pediatrics), and is already collaborating with numerous national and international partners.
Real hope for diseases hitherto without effective treatment
Advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs) - gene, cell and tissue therapies - open up unprecedented perspectives for rare and severe diseases that today have few or no treatments. These approaches are aimed, for example, at slowing the progression of serious autoimmune diseases, offering new solutions for certain neuromuscular pathologies, or proposing potentially curative treatments for hitherto incurable blood diseases or pediatric conditions.
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F-CRIN, a springboard for CLEIO
With this label, CLEIO benefits from the full scientific and operational dynamic of F-CRIN, a national platform for clinical research excellence. In concrete terms, this support takes the form of a contribution in human and operational resources, the provision of shared operational tools, as well as specialized training in clinical research. F-CRIN also provides the network with administrative, legal and financial support, while offering it European visibility through its integration into the ECRIN network, which facilitates the extension of trials to the international level.
By structuring and strengthening the expertise of its centers, CLEIO aims to place France at the forefront of Europe in the field of innovative therapies and to meet the expectations of patients facing these rare diseases: Access tomorrow's treatments faster.
CLEIO (Centres Labellisés d'Expertise en thérapies Innovantes) is a national clinical investigation network dedicated to innovative therapies outside oncology, such as gene, cell and tissue therapies (ATMPs). Coordinated by Profs Vincent LAUGEL (Strasbourg University Hospital), Michaela SEMERARO (AP-HP - Necker Hospital) and Grégory PUGNET (Toulouse University Hospital), CLEIO brings together 11 expert university hospital centers across France. Relying on state-of-the-art infrastructures, academic and industrial partnerships, and existing networks (PEDSTART, ORPHANDEV), CLEIO aims to accelerate patient access to new therapeutic options.
CLEIO is the first of its kind in France.
Set up in 2012, F-CRIN (French Clinical Research Infrastructure Network) is a national platform dedicated to the development of French clinical research. It is led by Inserm in association with hospitals, healthcare industrialists and universities, and supported by the French National Research Agency and the Ministry of Health as part of "France Santé 2030". F-CRIN's mission is to federate the players involved in clinical research in order to boost the international competitiveness and attractiveness of French research, develop the expertise of professionals by pooling know-how, resources and means, and thus accelerate the adoption of new practices and the development of new therapeutic solutions. Today, F-CRIN is based on a federative model structured around 27 components: 25 thematic research and clinical investigation networks, a multiservice platform available to sponsors and investigators to support their trials, and a national coordination unit, the infrastructure headquarters, based in Toulouse. With over 2,000 professionals pooling their expertise and resources, F-CRIN is also the French interface for the European clinical research network ECRIN, promoting the participation of French teams and centers in multinational clinical trials.
For more information: https://www.fcrin.org/
Press contact: EVE'VOTREDIRCOM - 06 62 46 84 82 - servicepresse@votredircom.fr
