Cureline, a US-based provider of human biospecimens (HBS) to the global biomedical research community, is establishing a clinical operations and research team in Lithuania. The team will be comprised of MS and PhD level research and medical professionals and is set to begin operations in early 2021. Cureline’s presence adds to the continually growing community of US companies in Lithuania’s Life Sciences ecosystem.
Operating out of its central biorepository and two laboratories in California, Cureline provides human tissue specimens for therapeutic and diagnostic R&D around the globe.
Its partners include world leading pharmaceutical companies in the US, Europe, Korea and Japan, major universities and research institutes including Stanford, Harvard, and University of California San Francisco.
The new clinical operations team in Lithuania will join Cureline’s global network that extends across 4 continents. Members of the company’s international operations team, led by Founder and CEO Dr. Olga Potapova, visited Lithuania in early 2020 to evaluate the country’s commercial potential and establish initial clinical contracts. While the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed Cureline’s establishment of operations in the Baltic region, it is now ready to press ahead. It aims to establish an initial team of 2 to 3 MS or PhD level clinical professionals with expertise in clinical research, biobanking and diagnostics.
“Our criteria for selecting countries are similar to those for clinical trials,” explains Cureline’s CEO, Dr. Olga Potapova. “We look for full compliance with international human subject rights, excellence in medical care, certified and well-equipped laboratories, and the availability of well-trained specialists. Furthermore, Lithuania came highly recommended by the US Department of Commerce as a well developed country with excellent English levels and established biomedical research facilities.”
Cureline will be joining a significant and growing US presence in Lithuania’s Life Sciences ecosystem. Thermo Fisher Scientific has been operating in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius for over a decade and recently announced an expansion of its Lithuanian operations. It will add 140 specialists to its current team of over 1250 employees. Meanwhile, healthcare equipment producer Hollister opened a state of the art facility in Lithuania’s second largest city Kaunas last October.
One factor that is supporting US Life Sciences companies in Lithuania is the mutual recognition agreement that was signed between the FDA and the Lithuanian State Medicine Control Agency. This agreement means the Lithuanian agency is capable of conducting inspections that meet US requirements.
As Invest Lithuania’s Managing Director Mantas Katinas points out, Cureline’s arrival is further proof of the high levels of Life Sciences expertise found in Lithuania. “Cureline will be recruiting top clinical professionals with experience in Life Sciences research,” he explains. “Their presence proves we have the talent and experience levels required by internationally-oriented Life Sciences companies. Furthermore, Life Sciences investors from the US have noted that there is a good cultural fit here. Lithuanian professionals demonstrate the levels of innovation and hard work the US companies expect.”