Stem Cell Sciences says it is the first time a human embryonic stem-cell line has been made freely available to researchers worldwide. The company is making this offer with no commercial or intellectual property constraints.
Dr. Peter Mountford, the Chief Executive Officer of Stem Cell Sciences, admitted the company's motives were not wholly altruistic. SCS hopes that its expertise in stem-cell lines will give it an edge in attracting the world's brightest researchers for collaborative work.
"We want to further scientific research, but this is also a commercial decision aimed at raising the profile of the company," he said.
"Stem Cell Sciences' principal objective is to be the first company to deliver clinical benefit from an Embryonic Stem cell-derived cell therapy. This requires multiple technologies and a globally integrated initiative. No one company or country can hope to deliver the whole package of technologies needed all on their own.
Professor Austin Smith FRSE, the Director of the University of Edinburgh's Institute for Stem Cell Research (ISCR), the intellectual driver of the science behind SCS together with Peter Mountford, Chief Executive Officer of Stem Cell Sciences are driving the global initiative from Scotland.
SCS' subsidiary in Melbourne, Australia, where the company was founded in 1994, made the announcement.
The new line was announced at Monash University's Clayton campus where Stem Cell Sciences opened a new stem cell laboratory Monday in the same building as the Australian Stem Cell Center. The center is tied to the Medicine, Nursing, Health and Biomedical Sciences schools at Monash University in Melbourne.
A stem-cell line is based on a cell that can endlessly replicate itself in a laboratory and can be used to make any kind of cell in the human body.
SCS chief, Mountford said restrictions on the use of existing stem-cell lines were hindering research. "It really is not appropriate that something that has been donated for the good of mankind is controlled by any individual," he said.
The First Free Stem Cell Line
The first free stem cell line is called Mel 1. It is based on a cell that can grow exact copies of itself, and which can be used to make any kind of cell in the human body.
Once established, a cell line can be grown in the laboratory indefinitely.
Dr. Mountford said early trials of the line, which cost about $100,000 to develop, had shown Mel 1 to be especially well suited for research into treatment for Parkinson's disease and Diabetes.
The company plans to release five more stem-cell lines over the next two years.
About Stem Cell Sciences
The Company was founded on proprietary platform technologies, allowing the isolation, growth and manipulation of Stem Cells.
SCS has a world-wide, exclusive, perpetual license for work performed in the Institute for Stem Cell Research at the University of Edinburgh. SCS UK Ltd maintains strong operational & technology links with this world-leading, Edinburgh based institute.
The Company's technology provides a means to generate an unlimited supply of customized cell types for assays of use in drug discovery & development programmes. Longer-term applications exist in the elucidation of human gene function, offering new drug targets, and in cell based transplantation therapies. Diseases such as Parkinson's & diabetes are potential targets for the latter application.
Thank you Dr. Peter Mountford, Professor Austin Smith, researchers at Monash, and all those around the world dedicated to the field of stem cell research who dare to take on this initiative.
Inspire & Be Inspired (R).
Here's to healthy, adventuresome, soulful and synergistic, collaborative living!
~ Jennifer Carolyn King
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