Collaboration agreed
UK stem cell specialist NovaThera Ltd announced a collaboration with its Israeli counterpart Gamida Cell Ltd aimed at developing cell therapies for lung repair and regeneration.
Under the terms of the agreement the two will pool technology and expertise and work together with clinicians at Papworth Hospital in the UK. NovaThera specialises in applying biomaterials and stem cell biology to regenerative medicine and tissue engineering, while Gamida develops therapeutics from cord blood, using proprietary technologies to expand populations of haematopoietic stem/progenitor cells for the treatment of blood diseases and for tissue regeneration.
The scientists at Papworth will carry out clinical tests of populations of stem cells derived from cord blood, expanded by Gamida’s stem/progenitor cell expansion technologies.
“This is a very exciting development, and could be a huge step towards a practical approach to the regeneration and repair of lungs severely damaged by incurable diseases such as emphysema and smoking,” said Julia Polak, founder of NovaThera, from Imperial College London and an expert in lung disease.
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