UCL enters embryonic stem cell collaboration with Pfizer

University College London and Pfizer’s Regenerative Medicine unit have agreed a collaboration and licensing agreement, in which they will use embryonic stem cells to develop treatments for macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness.

This brings together the work of university researchers in the field of cell-based therapies with Pfizer’s expertise in the design and staging of clinical trials, dealing with regulators, and the development of manufacturing techniques. The collaboration will examine how human embryonic stem cells differentiate into retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) with the goal of developing stem cell-based therapies primarily for wet and dry macular degeneration (AMD).

The UCL researchers, led by Pete Coffey, have already had some success in treating retinal diseases using a patient’s own stem cells.

“We are excited to be working with pioneers in the field of stem cell ophthalmology from UCL,” said Ruth McKernan, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer of Pfizer Regenerative Medicine. “While we have much to learn about how stem cells can be used therapeutically, we are confident that this relationship will increase that understanding and help us advance to a time when our work may benefit patients worldwide.”

Pfizer will provide research funding to UCL in return for exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialise an RPE stem cell-based therapeutic. Pfizer is a specialist in ophthalmologic disease and has active efforts in retinal diseases, glaucoma and dry eye syndrome.

“We have not only the benefit of Pfizer’s experience of the regulatory process and their expertise in stem cell technology but the ability, if this works, to produce on a much larger scale. It has huge implications, not only for our project, but for the field of regenerative medicine as a whole,” said Coffey, of the UCL Institute for Ophthalmology, and Director of the London Project to Cure Blindness, a research charity.

Pfizer made its first overt move into stem cells in November 2008, when it launched its Regenerative Medicine research unit, which is jointly based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Cambridge, UK. The agreement with UCL adds to a range of collaborations and licenses with public and private institutes involving stem cells. These collaborations are evaluating alternative cell sources, exploring the control of stem cells with small molecules, and optimising the production of certain cell types for potential use as therapies.