Commissioner for development of new biotech hub appointed

The Polish government has appointed a new commissioner charged with creating a biotech hub in the country and promoting the country’s medical independence.

The main task facing Doctor Radoslaw Sierpinski, who takes up the new post, will be, according to the Medical Research Agency, to focus primarily on the creation of a Polish bio-technology hub and an agency to deal with a shortage of blood products in Poland.

"The Warsaw Health Innovation Hub is intended to be a multi-entity platform for the pragmatic use of innovative solutions to help patients and improve the health care system in Poland," the agency said in a press release.

"In its later stages it will form the foundations for building a Warsaw biotechnology hub," it added.

The doctor will also oversee the establishment of a National Plasma Fractionator, which will help Poland end its dependence on foreign-made plasma and blood products.

The Medical Research Agency said that every year Poland sells over 200,000 litres of plasma gained from Polish donors to foreign producers of blood products because the country lacks its own plasma factory, leaving it dependent on the foreign policy of producers and importers.

Processing the plasma and making blood products in the country will ensure Poland's medical and economic security, said the agency.