Sign up for our e-newsletter UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH HUMAN EMBRYONIC STEM CELL programme AWARDED UK GRANT FUNDING
Press Release, June 5th, 2008Geron Corporation announced today two grant awards to the University of Edinburgh from the UK Stem Cell Foundation, with funding from the Medical Research Council and Scottish Enterprise.
The awards, totalling £3.6 million (US$7.2 million) over two years, follow on from a collaboration set up in August 2006 between Geron and the University of Edinburgh to develop hESC-derived hepatocytes for the treatment of liver failure and for use in cell-based assays, as well as to develop osteoblasts and chondrocytes for the treatment of musculoskeletal disorders such as osteoporosis, bone fractures and osteoarthritis.
The grants relate to preclinical safety and efficacy studies of three therapeutic cell types derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). The projects are led by Prof. Brendon Noble and Prof. John Iredale at the University of Edinburgh’s MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine.
"These are the first grants we have awarded that use human embryonic stem cells," said Sir Richard Sykes, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, UK Stem Cell Foundation. "Our remit is to support high quality translational projects whose direct aim is rapid and safe progression towards clinical application. These research groups combine scientific and clinical expertise within a centre of excellence for stem cell research at the University of Edinburgh and are therefore well positioned for achieving success."
"The UK continues to demonstrate international leadership in supporting development of embryonic stem cell technology," said David Greenwood, Geron’s executive vice president and chief financial officer. "Because of the receptiveness in the UK, we have major collaborations in place at the University of Edinburgh, the University of Birmingham and Oxford."
"This funding and our continued collaboration with Geron will advance two important translational programmes within the MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine," commented Professor Sir John Savill, Head of College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine at the University of Edinburgh. "The government has made a major investment in creating the Centre and this grant will allow us to progress toward our goal of delivering new treatments for debilitating diseases."
Programmes Funded by the Grant
Bone and Cartilage Cells
Similarly, orthopaedic indications are important targets for cell therapy, such as the replacement of degenerated cartilage in osteoarthritis, or of bone after trauma or osteoporosis, applications with major unmet needs. These hESC–based therapies are intended to be off–the–shelf products, delivered on demand, and centrally produced from a uniform renewable source of undifferentiated cells, allowing efficient treatment of large numbers of patients. The orthopaedic programme has derived bone forming osteoblasts and cartilage–forming chondrocytes from hESCs in vitro by directed differentiation and demonstrated survival of grafted cells in bone and cartilage repair sites in vivo. Cells derived in this way have been shown to be capable of forming the authentic bone and cartilage material that is required to repair our skeleton and to be capable of doing this in sites in the body that need it. The current funding will support further studies to assess safety and efficacy of hESC–derived osteoblasts and chondrocytes in preclinical models. Bioactive scaffolds and cell carriers, developed at the University of Edinburgh, will be used to promote tissue regeneration in vivo.
Hepatocytes
Currently, the only treatment for chronic end-stage liver failure is whole organ liver transplantation, a costly procedure limited by the severe shortage of donor organs. A potential alternative therapy being explored within the collaboration is the use of hepatocytes derived from hESCs either to restore liver function, or to be incorporated into bioartificial devices for patients awaiting transplantation or in need of short-term hepatic support.
In the liver programme, recent improvements in the hepatocyte differentiation protocol have significantly increased the efficiency of producing functional human hepatocyte–like cells. These derived cells have important genetic and functional characteristics of normal human hepatocytes, such as the expression of genes required for liver cell function and the ability of the cells to metabolize drugs. The current funding will support preclinical studies to assess safety and efficacy of the hESC–derived hepatocyte–like cells. An immediate goal of the work will be the development of the cells for drug testing. Successful development of liver cells from hESCs will revolutionise and improve the way we are able to test drugs and novel therapies both for the liver and other organs in addition to the possible development of a stem–cell based approach to regenerate the liver.