East-West University Signs Groundbreaking Partnership with Arizona State University to Become a Regional Hub in the Caucasus for Innovative, Interdisciplinary, and International Education in Georgia

Powered by Arizona State University, East-West University joins the ASU-Cintana Alliance to transform higher education in Georgia and prepare local and international students for global careers

East-West University is proud to announce a groundbreaking partnership with Arizona State University (ASU)—ranked the most innovative university in the United States for ten consecutive years by U.S. News & World Report (2016-2025). Through this collaboration, East-West University joins the ASU-Cintana Alliance, a global network of forward-looking universities committed to delivering high-quality, globally relevant education that meets the demands of a rapidly evolving world.

East-West University, currently centered around its flagship Medical Doctor Educational Program, is now entering a bold new chapter. Through its partnership with Arizona State University and status as a Powered by ASU® institution, East-West University is set to accelerate its growth, redefine its academic vision, and relaunch its brand with a compelling global value proposition. East-West University students will benefit from academic experiences aligned with ASU’s global standards, including access to ASU-designed curricula, world-class faculty development, global masterclasses, international research collaboration, and student exchange opportunities.

”East-West University is undertaking a strategic initiative to become a regional leader in international education, supported by its partnership with Arizona State University and the extensive global expertise of the Cintana Alliance,” said Giorgi Khurodze, President of East-West University.

In addition, East-West University’s expanded programs will be developed as dual degree pathways with ASU, giving students the opportunity—pending future regulatory approval—to earn both a Georgian degree from East-West University and an American degree from Arizona State University. These flexible, phased pathways will empower students to customize their academic journey, enhancing their employability and impact in both local and global markets.

“ASU is engaging with the intention of being part of a movement around the world to expand access to higher education and to expand high quality outcomes,” said Michael Crow, President of Arizona State University. “Our work with Cintana is focused on taking educational attainment and helping it to become more ubiquitously available. Wisdom is considered rare, something to be granted to other people and scarcity is considered to be good. That will not get us where we need to be as a species and as a global society. Our goal is to do something about that, at scale, and that’s exactly what we are doing.”

“East-West University is embarking on one of the most ambitious transformations we’ve seen in the region,” said Douglas L. Becker, Founder and Chairman of Cintana Education. “By joining the ASU-Cintana Alliance, East-West University is not just expanding its academic offerings—it’s reimagining what a modern, globally connected university can be. We’re proud to support this bold vision to build a new kind of institution that delivers international-quality education and prepares students in Georgia to lead on the world stage.”

East-West University also plans to strategically expand and diversify its portfolio of programs, aiming to become a truly international, innovative, and interdisciplinary institution. With this transformation, East-West University aspires to establish itself as a leading academic destination in the region—attracting both local and international students—and achieve an enrollment of over 7,000 students by 2034.

This ambitious growth will be driven by both the enhancement of its medical program and the launch of 22 new academic programs over the next five years. These new programs will span health sciences, business, digital technologies, and social sciences—fields where demand for high-quality education is growing both in Georgia and across the broader region. The initiative comes at a pivotal moment for Georgian higher education, where international student enrollment is increasing at a rate of 24% annually, and private universities now account for nearly 70% of total market growth.

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On its 25th anniversary, GM PHARMA is starting with a significant milestone – the company has successfully passed the inspection of the Medical and Pharmaceutical Activities Regulation Agency and has been awarded, for the second time, the Georgian National Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) compliance certificate.

Since January 1, 2022, an amendment to the Georgian law “On Medicines and Pharmaceutical Activities” has come into effect, making GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) and GDP (Good Distribution Practice) certification mandatory for pharmaceutical product manufacturers and wholesale distributors. The recertification process takes place every three years, which GM PHARMA has successfully completed.

It is noteworthy that GM PHARMA’s solid dosage forms manufacturing site in Tbilisi, Georgia, is the largest pharmaceutical plant in the South Caucasus region and the only facility where a full production cycle of oral solid dosage forms is carried out. The full production cycle encompasses the entire process, from sourcing raw materials to the release of the final product, including dispensing, blending, granulation, tableting, tablet coating, capsule filling, bottle filling, sachet filling and blister and bottle packaging, quality control.

As the company states, the GMP certificate obtained in 2022 was not a novelty, as GM PHARMA had already been awarded the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) EU Vol. IV compliance certificate back in 2007 by the Heathside Information Services, United Kingdom.

Currently, the company holds all national and international certificates, permits and licenses required for pharmaceutical manufacturing: Good Manufacturing Practice – National GMP (Georgia, from 2022 year); Good Manufacturing Practice – GMP PIC/S (International, from 2014 year); Quality Management – ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 17025:2017/2018, etc.

Additionally, in 2023, GM PHARMA successfully completed the compliance audit for EU Good Manufacturing Practice standards (EU GMP: EudraLex – Volume 4 – Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) guidelines), conducted by the highly reputable German company Heacon Service GmbH’s pharma-audit team. The Heacon group’s database includes information about the audit conducted at GM PHARMA, by which it was once again confirmed the compliance of the manufacturing site, laboratories, warehouse, equipment, utilities and quality management systems in general with the EU GMP standards.

It should also be noted that in 2024, a subsequent GMP inspection was conducted by the highly authoritative Ukrainian regulatory authority, based on which GM PHARMA was once again awarded the international GMP compliance certificate – PIC/S GMP. The Pharmaceutical Inspection Co-operation Scheme (PIC/S) is a non-binding, informal co-operative arrangement between Regulatory Authorities in the field of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) of medicinal products for human or veterinary use. PIC/S aims at harmonising inspection procedures worldwide by developing common standards in the field of GMP and by providing training opportunities to Inspectors. It also aims to facilitate co-operation and networking between competent authorities, regional and international organisations, thus increasing mutual confidence. Ukraine’s regulatory authority joined the PIC/S alliance in 2011. As of today, only the Baltic states and Ukraine represent the Post-Soviet region in this organization, highlighting the high reputation of Ukraine’s regulatory authority and the exceptional qualifications of its inspectors.

In 2024, GM PHARMA also successfully completed the GMP certification process conducted by regulatory authorities of Uzbekistan. It is noteworthy that significant reforms have been taking place in Uzbekistan’s pharmaceutical industry over the past two years. As a result, the country’s regulatory authority is planning to apply for PIC/S membership in the near future. This development further enhances the value of holding Uzbekistan’s GMP certificate.

GM PHARMA, the only international, multinational pharmaceutical company from Georgia, is actively preparing for EU Good Manufacturing Practice (EU GMP) standards. This marks a significant milestone in the company’s growth and development, as well as in the evolution of Georgia’s pharmaceutical industry.

All these achievements and compliance with international standards confirm GM PHARMA’s readiness to enter the European Union market.

The mission of GM PHARMA is to produce and supply healthcare products through a pioneering and innovative approach for the benefit of medicine and humanity by practicing all Quality and Safety norms and standards. The core value of the company is to touch and improve more patients’ lives with more GM PHARMA brands and products every day. Currently, more than 12 million patients are treated with GM PHARMA products in Georgia and the company’s international, export markets every year, which shows the recognition of the company by consumers and healthcare specialists.

GM PHARMA – Serving Those Who Needs It Most!

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As part of the Tbilisi Architecture Biennial, the TBC Concept multifunctional space (Marjanishvili 7) will host a lecture by Caroline Bos, co-founder of UNStudio, on October 8, 2024, at 7 p.m.

To correct mistakes… to fix… to mend…to make good… architecture, which is forever in the process of entropy, will always require us to make things better. We can do this in so many different ways, inventing and refining tools and techniques. Besides thinking of this topic pragmatically, UNStudio also reflects on our own discipline and on the good we can do to our living world.

Caroline Bos

BA, MSc, Int (F)RIBA

Co-Founder / Principal Urban Planner UNStudio

Honorary Professor at the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning
Norman R. Foster Visiting Professor of Architectural Design, Yale School of Architecture

Caroline Bos studied History of Art at Birkbeck College of the University of London and Urban and Regional Planning at the Faculty of Geosciences, University of Utrecht. In 1988 she co- founded Van Berkel & Bos Architectuurbureau with the architect Ben van Berkel, extending her theoretical and writing projects to the practice of architecture. Realized projects include the Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam, museum Het Valkhof in Nijmegen and the Moebius house.

In 1998 Caroline Bos co-founded UNStudio (United Net). UNStudio presents itself as a network of specialists in architecture, urban development and infrastructure. Completed urban development projects include the restructuring of the station area of Arnhem and the mixed-use Raffles City in Hangzhou, while current projects include the Southbank by Beulah mixed-use development in Melbourne and the masterplan for a leisure island in South Korea.

Caroline Bos has taught as a guest lecturer at Princeton University, the Berlage Institute in Rotterdam, The Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and the Academy of Architecture in Arnhem. In 2012 she was awarded an Honorary Professorship at the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning. For the academic year 2021-2022 she was Norman R. Foster Visiting Professor of Architectural Design at Yale School of Architecture. Central to her teaching is the inclusive approach of architectural works integrating virtual and material organization and engineering constructions. From 2020-2022 Caroline joined AM as Director AM Concepts and Supervisor Urban Planning AM.

An exhibition by ifa-Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen in collaboration with ARCH+

Presented in cooperation with the Tbilisi Architecture Biennial (TAB) at TBC Concept Flagship

 7 Kote Marjanishvili St, Tbilisi 0102, Georgia

Opening: Friday, October 4, 18:00-20:00 

Symposium Commoning Tbilisi and Curator’s Tour: Sat. October 5, 14:00-19:00

Exhibition Duration: October 4 – November 15, 2024

Opening Hours: Monday–Saturday, 10:00-20:00

Curatorial Team: 

Anh-Linh Ngo, Mirko Gatti, Christian Hiller, Max Kaldenhoff, Christine Rüb (ARCH+); Elke aus dem Moore (ifa); Stefan Gruber (CMU)

Research Partners: 

School of Architecture, Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) Pittsburgh, Remaking Cities Institute, 

Prof. Stefan Gruber, and Technische Universität Berlin, Institute of Architecture, Prof. Rainer Hehl

Curators of Tbilisi Edition:

Stefan Gruber (CMU), Tinatin Gurgenidze (TAB), Mariam Shergelashvili 

Social media and other platforms whose business models are based on the commercialization of social relationships, have transformed words like “community,” “sharing” or “we” into empty concepts that no longer represent solidarity or a progressive social agenda, but rather form the basis for an emerging platform capitalism. This economic development is accompanied by a global political shift fueled by traditional community notions of identity and affiliation, exclusion and discrimination. Against this background, the exhibition and publication project An Atlas of Commoning aims to reclaim and redefine the open and emancipatory space of “we” as a concept. The project focuses on urban commons—here commons are to be understood as a set of practices dealing with the collective production and governance of (material and immaterial) resources and spaces in general, rather than with the resources themselves, hence “commoning,” the verb, takes center stage. Commoning is a process of dealing with differences and conflicts between the individual, the community and society. A process of spatial organization in the relations between production and reproduction, ownership and access to resources. A process that brings together solidarity networks and redefines individual and collective rights. The project questions the prevailing social and political structures and seeks new forms of collective, yet pluralistic, governance.

With contributions from: 

Morehshin Allahyari & Daniel Rourke; clemens krug architekten & Bernhard Hummel Architekt (Team: Oliver Clemens, Anna Heilgemeir,  Bernhard Hummel, Emma Williams); Assemble & Granby Workshop; Iwan Baan; Brandlhuber + Christopher Roth; DAAR Decolonizing  Architecture Art Residency; Theo Deutinger; Eureka; Manuel Herz;  Sandi Hilal, Philipp Misselwitz & Anne Misselwitz; Immo Klink; Kotti & Co; Kuehn Malvezzi; Angelika Levi; Golan Levin (F.A.T. Lab) & Shawn Sims  

(Sy–Lab); Makoko Waterfront Community; Tukano Maloca; Miethäuser Syndikat; National Union of Sahrawi Women; NLÉ Architects; PlanBude Hamburg, Svenja Baumgardt & Sylvi Kretzschmar; Common Ground e.V. & Nachbarschaftsakademie; Quest – Florian Köhl / Christian Burkhard;  Martha Rosler; Harald Trapp / Robert Thum; Urban-Think Tank, Chair of Architecture and Urban Design ETH Zürich; WiLMa GmbH; Samson Young.

The “Atlas of Commoning” also includes works by: 

Airbnb; ARGE ifau | HEIDE & VON BECKERATH; Atelier d’Architecture Autogérée; BARarchitekten; Bau- und Wohngenossenschaft Spreefeld  Berlin eG; Carpaneto Schöning Architekten; City in the Making; FATkoehl Architekten; Die Zusammenarbeiter; El Campo de la Cebada; Genossenschaft Kalkbreite; Genossenschaft Kraftwerk1; Go Hasegawa and Associates; IBeB GbR; Müller Sigrist Architects; Refugee  Accommodation and Solidarity Space City Plaza; Schneider Studer Primas; Stiftung House of One – Bet- und Lehrhaus Petriplatz Berlin; Gemeinde Yoshino; ZUS [Zones Urbaines Sensibles]. 

Tbilisi initiatives include the Betlemi Neighborhood Revitalization, Birzha, the Center of Contemporary Art Tbilisi, Napirze in Rustavi, the Kinbe Project, the Save the Rioni River Movement and Street School.

For more information, visit www.biennial.ge