The first research centre in Romania and Eastern Europe with state-of-the-art equipment for basic and applied research in the field of gene therapies. With a total surface area of 3000 m², the Centre has basic and applied research facilities, including 15 compartments and laboratories endowed with high performance equipment.​

The construction and the endowment of the Centre for Gene and Cellular Therapies in the Treatment of Cancer – OncoGen took place from 2010 until 2015, based on funding through the Sectorial Operational Programme ”Increasing of Economic Competitiveness”, Priority axis 2: Competitiveness through Research, Economic Development and Innovation, Operation 2.2.1. The project was coordinated by Prof. Virgil Paunescu, MD, PhD. The total value of the project was RON 54,389,610, out of which eligible costs were RON 44,000,000, with RON 38,909,200 from the European Regional Development Fund and RON 5,090,800 from the national budget. The centre has been provided with all the facilities and technological flows required for top research, being equipped with basic and applied research facilities for translational medicine, including a GMP unit (2 clean rooms and a BSL2 room), a cell and tissue bank, and an animal house facility.​

OncoGen is the first state-of-the-art research centre for gene therapies in Romania, dedicated to research in areas that are closely connected to clinical branches of the Pius Brinzeu Emergency County Clinical Hospital Timisoara:​

• Advanced therapies in cancer
• Regenerative medicine
• Health and environmental factors
• Immunotherapies