New company speeds up Alzheimer’s drug testing
29 Jul 2016 by Evoluted New Media
A new neural stem cell company has been spun out from the University of Manchester to develop a drug to treat Alzheimer’s.
A new neural stem cell company has been spun out from the University of Manchester to develop a drug to treat Alzheimer’s.
StrataStem uses neural cells grown from a patient’s stem cells, eliminating the need for animal models for testing. As it is based on human cells, it provides a better way for researchers to assess new drugs for tackling Alzheimer’s.
Dr Lisa Mohamet, StrataStem founder said: “We have chosen to focus our efforts on Alzheimer’s disease because there’s a huge unmet clinical need.
“There have been no new drugs in the past 10 years to effectively treat the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, let alone a cure. We hope to repurpose drugs that already work for other conditions that could provide us with a shortcut to new treatments.”
StrataStem was founded by Dr Mohamet and Dr Chris Ward. Their patented technology accelerates the creation of neural cells from any cell from a patient, such as hair or skin. Previously, this was only possible post mortem. The company’s customers are likely to be pharmaceutical and bio-tech companies as well as researchers.
The stem cell company has received funding from the University of Manchester, the University of Manchester Intellectual Property Premier Fund and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. They are currently seeking investment.
