TSB announces £8.5m grants to fourteen projects to boost regenerative medicine5 December 2011 The UK Technology Strategy Board has announced that fourteen commercially-focused research and development projects that will lead to innovation in regenerative medicines are to benefit from nearly £8.5 million of UK government funding. Ten of the collaborative projects will address generic challenges in the development of cell based therapies, and will lead to demonstrators with commercial applicability. Four projects will engage in the development of regenerative medicine therapeutics. The investment in the projects, part of the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) managed £21.5 million Regenerative Medicine Programme, will see funding from the TSB, the Medical Research Council (MRC), the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). The news of funding for these projects comes on the day that the Prime Minister announces a range of measures to boost the UK’s life sciences industry, including setting up a £180 million catalyst fund – to be managed by the TSB and the MRC — to speed-up the commercialisation of medical discoveries (see UK government announces £90m new funds for life sciences commercialisation). Iain Gray, Chief Executive of the Technology Strategy Board, said: “The UK is a world leader in regenerative medicine, with a strong academic science base and a supportive clinical and regulatory environment. For UK businesses to fulfil their potential in this field, gaining a commercially competitive edge and exploiting promising discoveries, a number of development challenges need to be overcome. This is why we launched the Regenerative Medicine Programme, to underpin and enable the best regenerative medicine businesses in the UK and build a connected regenerative medicine community.” The fourteen projects will be led by: Altrika Ltd, Asymptote Ltd, Cell Medica Ltd, CellSeed Europe Ltd, Cellzome Ltd, ImmunoSolv Ltd, Intercytex Ltd, Kirkstall Ltd, Lonza Biologics, Neotherix Ltd, Orthox Ltd, Plasticell Ltd, Stabilitech Ltd and TAP Biosystems. The collaborative R&D projects include work that will develop:
Regenerative medicine is an interdisciplinary approach that spans tissue engineering, developmental and stem cell biology, gene therapy, cellular therapeutics, biomaterials, nanoscience, bioengineering and chemical biology. Regenerative medicine has already provided significant medical advances in areas such as skin regeneration for burns patients, and it has the potential to go much further, with next-generation products offering cures or treatments with long-term benefits. The funding awards follow successful applications by the consortia to two Technology Strategy Board competitions for research and development funding within the Regenerative Medicine Programme. The challenge set by the Tools and Technologies competition was to develop enabling platform tools and technologies to overcome key development challenges in safety and efficacy testing and the manufacturing of cell-based regenerative medicine therapeutics. The challenge of the Developing Therapeutics competition was to enable the preclinical and clinical development of previously identified therapeutic candidates (that can replace or regenerate human cells, tissues or organs to restore or establish normal function) to create regenerative products.
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