Development opportunity | Licensing opportunity
Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have developed methodology and reagents for purifying thymic epithelial progenitor cells (TEPCs) from foetal thymus tissue, improving their viability and expanding their numbers in culture.
The University of Edinburgh is looking for commercial partners to do further collaborative development work and/or licensing of the rights to use the methods and reagents for further internal research on TEPCs.
TEPCs are an ideal material for use in transplantation therapy or for in vitro thymus generation, and these cells could be used to restore immune function to immuno-suppressed cancer patients and improve immune tolerance in transplant patients.
To date, TEPCs have been difficult to maintain in culture. This technology, says the university, provides methodology for isolating TEPCs from foetal thymic tissue and subsequently growing them in vitro. This overcomes the principal barrier to use of thymus transplantation to boost immune system recovery in bone marrow transplant patients – the lack of suitable thymus tissue.
The immediate-term markets for this technology are in the field of bone marrow transplantation, but could extend to solid organ transplants and HIV therapy.
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