Neural Stem Cell institute is in contention for $10.6m grant

Members of the Neural Stem Cell Institute have announced the company has been recommended for a $10.6 million (£6.57 million) grant, which will be used to enter stem cells into a new clinical trial.

Troyrecord.com has reported that The Funding Committee of the Empire State Stem Cell Board and the New York State Stem Cell Science has put the organisation forward to obtain the money in order to work on the Retinal Pigment Epithelium Stem Cell.

Dr Sally Temple, co-founder and scientific director of NSCI, has claimed the stem cell degenerates in patients who suffer from age-related macular degeneration, which is one of the main causes of blindness, impacting on one out of five people over the age of 75.

To research the cell, NSCI has assembled a consortium, featuring the University of Rochester, Fordham University, General Electric, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Health Research, Inc./Wadsworth Center, Columbia University, National Eye Institute, University of Pittsburgh and University at Albany.

Specialists from all of these institutions are working in tandem to explore the properties of the cell in the hope it will play a key role in combatting the disease.

"Translational research, by which I mean bringing it from the research lab towards a product for patient benefit, that translation research costs multi-millions of dollars. This $10.6 million grant opportunity will truly be transformative for us," Dr Temple told the news provider.

University at Albany vice president of research James Dias also commented on the discovery, adding he was "excited" to see the solutions could be found in the capital district.

Speaking to the news provider, Mr Dias said: "University at Albany is committed to keeping the pipeline of therapies flowing by nurturing and performing biomedical research that can provide the foundation for new treatments that can ameliorate or cure disease and this is currently a major focus of our own life science initiative."

Elsewhere in the US pharma industry, Terumo BCT has announced it is to begin a clinical trial to analyse the Spectra Optia system's new Red Blood Cell Exchange in patients with sickle cell disease.

Posted by Fiona Griffiths