UK supports stem cell research with online toolkit
pharmafile | December 18, 2009 | News story | Research and Development | ReNeuron, regenerative medicine, stell cell
A new online resource has been launched to help stem cell researchers in the UK plan a regulatory route for their research.
The ‘UK Stem Cell Tool Kit’ website allows researchers to build a customised ‘map’ outlining the regulatory steps needed to take their ideas for a new treatment from the laboratory to patients.
Researchers will be asked seven key questions. Depending on their answers, a unique ‘route’ is generated on-screen, which provides them with details on all regulatory requirements, information and points of contact within the relevant organisations to enable them to take their projects forward.
The Tool Kit can be found at www.sc-toolkit.ac.uk, and has been developed in response to calls from some UK stem cell researchers to clarify the regulatory requirements for research in the UK.
Minister for Public Health Gillian Merron said: “Stem cell research is a field that promises new and better treatments for many devastating conditions like Parkinson’s disease and diabetes. Researchers wanted clearer guidance on regulation for research projects in the UK, so that is what the government has delivered.
“The launch of the UK Stem Cell Tool Kit will make it quicker and easier for researchers to identify the right regulation to allow them to explore new treatments for an NHS of the future.”
The website has been developed by the Department of Health in collaboration with the Medical Research Council (MRC), medicines regulator the MHRA, Gene Therapy Advisory Committee, Human Tissue Authority (HTA), Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, the Health and Safety Executive, the Home Office and the UK Stem Cell Bank.
Welcoming the launch Dr Sandy Mather, director of regulation at the HTA, said: “For the first time scientists have access to a single resource that will help them navigate regulation from the bench to the clinic.
“The Tool Kit demonstrates the commitment of regulators, government and funders to work together to help stem cell scientists in the UK translate basic stem cell research into clinical outcomes and commercial benefits.”
Professor Brendon Noble of the MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine in Edinburgh said: “This will be an important tool in therapy development planning. It will also act as a focus for discussion over key issues and roadblocks to the development of cell based therapies.”
ReNeuron grants
The online initiative comes just a few weeks after UK-based stem cell research company ReNeuron was among a number of research groups that won government grants to further their work in the area.
ReNeuron will use the funds to help it begin a phase I clinical trial for its ReN001 stem cell therapy for disabled stroke patients, as well as progressing certain late pre-clinical activities with its ReN009 therapy for peripheral arterial disease.
The two awards are part of the government-supported Technology Strategy Board’s Regenerative Medicine Programme.
ReNeuron’s grants total a relatively modest £170,000, and are part of an initial £3 million competition launched in September to fund short-term therapeutic feasibility projects in the UK.
The intention is for the researchers to use the funds to develop projects and collaborations that can play a part in larger regenerative medicine funding initiatives to be launched by the Technology Strategy Board in 2010.
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