Pfizer’s stem cell unit and UCL focus on eye disorders
The research team, which is lead by Professor Pete Coffey, hopes to develop a regenerative therapy that can replace the eye tissue due to age related macular degeneration (AMD).
The group has found a way of converting embryonic stem cells into retinal pigmented epithelial (RPE) which, when, transplanted into animals, replace those lost by the disease. Now that the Pfizer deal has gone through the team expect to begin clinical trials in 2010 or 2011.
Ruth McKernan, CSO of regenerative medicine at Pfizer, told the Times newspaper that: “It’s fair to say that the science has matured to a level where pharmaceutical companies want to be engaged in trying to develop therapies.”
Many observers suggest Pfizer’s deal with UCL could be a real turning point for the drug industry, following as it does just a few months after the US ban on government funding for embryonic stem cell research.
An early indication of Pfizer’s interest in stem cell based therapies came in November when, in contrast with its efforts to trim R&D spending in other areas of its business, the firm set up its 70-strong regenerative medicine research unit at sites in the US and UK.
A Pfizer spokeswoman told the Wall Street Journal that that while terms of the UCL deal were not being disclosed the company “plans to invest $100m (€77m) over the next three to five years in regenerative medicine as a whole.”
Pfizer interest a boon for Intercytex
One of the earliest beneficiaries of Pfizer’s deal with the UCL is UK regenerative medicine firm Intercytex, whose share price leapt 68 per cent to £9.88 when the news broke late last week.
The Cambridgeshire firm’s subsidiary Axordia, which it bought in December, provides UCL with the SHEF-1 embryonic stem cells that are used to recreate the RPE cells that form the basis of the technology.
Market analyst Jacob Plieth from Edison Investment Research, suggested that: “People might be thinking if Pfizer is looking at this then maybe some other company may want to buy the Intercytex assets."
Intercytex CEO Nick Higgins told Dow Jones Newswires that its too early to say how much a drug commericlised by Pfizer would be worth to the firm but speculated that any cure for a leading cause of blindness like AMD has blockbuster potential.
