29th Aug 2006 09:00
Stem Cell Sciences plc29 August 2006 For immediate release 29th August 2006 (Stem Cell Sciences plc., AIM: STEM) STEM CELL SCIENCES TO PARTICIPATE IN €12 MILLION EU FUNDING OF HUMAN EMBRYONIC STEM CELL CONSORTIUM Edinburgh, 28th August 2006: Stem Cell Sciences (SCS, AIM: STEM), todayannounced that it will participate in the European Commission approved "ESTOOLS"programme, a world leading €12 million stem cell research program involving bothacademic and commercial researchers. Stem Cell Sciences is one of threecommercial partners taking part in this Framework Programme (FP) VI initiativewhich is being led by the University of Sheffield. "SCS is bringing its technologies and expertise to the project and plans to useany discoveries to supply improved cell based drug screening and toxicologyoptions to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. In the longer term,all these technologies will mesh together to help us deliver new stem celltherapies," said Dr Lilian Hook, Scientific Programme Manager - Europe. "The momentum for embryonic stem cell research and development is growing andthis funding will greatly enhance our competitive advantage in delivering humanembryonic stem cell based products to the market in a field of endeavour that isdirectly aligned with our commercial focus. We're delighted with the EuropeanUnion's decision to fund both this research program, and future wide rangingresearch in the field under FP VII, at a time when research in the US is stillbeing limited by political factors" commented Dr Peter Mountford, CEO of StemCell Sciences. About ESTOOLS programThe overall goal of ESTOOLS is to develop the tools and biological understandingrequired to control expansion, lineage commitment and terminal differentiationof human embryonic stem cells ("hES") for bio-industrial and medicalapplications. SCS will participate as a direct recipient of the ESTOOLS fundingsupport (approximately 5% of funds) and via certain rights to commercialiseintellectual property arising from the wider program. About Human Embryonic Stem Cells ("hES")hES cells offer unique opportunities for the investigation of cellulardevelopment and disease processes in normal human cells and could constitute apowerful new platform for drug discovery and toxicological screening. Thedifferentiation of hES cells may also provide a resource for future cellreplacement therapies. hES cell research is highly likely to yield benefits inbasic biology, bio-industry and medicine, but the complexity of the biologydemands cross-disciplinary collaborative initiatives to achieve a fullerunderstanding of these cells and to realise their full potential. Where ESTOOLS program fits inESTOOLS will focus on the self-renewal, specification, commitment anddifferentiation of hES cells to the neural lineage. Neural differentiation is apathway that is well-studied in mouse ES cells and one that hES cells appear toadopt fairly readily. There is a lack of our understanding in the early stagesof development of the human nervous system. This lineage thus provides apragmatic starting point for exploring the mechanisms by which ES cells choosebetween self renewal and commitment & will greatly enhance our knowledge ofhuman brain development. Furthermore, establishing conditions for thequantitative production of neurons and glia is an important goal in its ownright. This will provide vital new experimental avenues for the study ofcellular specification and disease modelling of the nervous system. The key to revealing the molecular circuitry that governs the hES cell decisionprocess will be the combination of genomic technologies and geneticinterventions. Major priorities in ESTOOLS are the development over 4 years of acomplete repertoire of genome engineering techniques for hES cells, standardizedmethodology for the propagation, expansion & differentiation of hES usingautomated culture methodologies. - ends - Disclaimer: This research was supported by EC FP6 funding (ContractXXXX-CT-2006-018739). This publication reflects the author's views and notnecessarily those of the EC. The Community is not liable for any use that may bemade of the information contained herein Contact Information James WhiteWeber Shandwick Square Mile+44 (0)207 067 [email protected] Peter Mountford, CEOStem Cell Sciences plc+44 (0) 131 662 [email protected] Notes to Editors: Stem cells are undifferentiated (unspecialised) cells that can divide to makecopies of them selves or differentiate (change) to become specialised cells of aspecific tissue such as neural cells or blood cells. Stem Cell Sciences plc (SCS, AIM: STEM) is a global biotechnology companyfocused on the development and application of stem cell technologies inbiopharmaceutical research and cell-based therapies. The Company has establisheda leading intellectual property (IP) and technology portfolio that enables thecommercial application of stem cells in pharmaceutical/biotechnology drugdiscovery and development, providing the Company with an early-stage revenuestream. In the longer term, the Company is developing regenerative, cell-basedtherapies. SCS operates as a group of independent operations with laboratories in Scotland,Japan and Australia, each of which is affiliated with an academic centre ofexcellence. These include the Institute of Stem Cell Research, Edinburgh, UK;RIKEN Centre for Development Biology, Kobe, Japan and the Australian Stem CellCentre, Melbourne, Australia. Stem Cell Sciences listed on the London AIM exchange on 18th July 2005 (AIM:STEM). ESTOOLS (full project title - Platforms for biomedical discovery with human EScells) is an integrated trans-European scientific consortium, aiming to makemajor advances in fundamental understanding and biomedical application of hEScells over the next 4 years. The project draws together a team of experienced,high calibre researchers from across Europe. The consortium combines provenexpertise in mouse ES cell systems, human ES cell culture, microarraytechnologies, epigenetics, genetic modification techniques, stem cellbiotechnology, neurodevelopment, neuronal cell biology, and bioethics. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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