New UK stem cells public-private partnership launched by science minister
The UK Government's Science Minister Ian Pearson has launched a new public-private company "Stem Cells for Safer Medicines Ltd" at an event in Cambridge today. The company will establish human stem cell lines for surrogate drug toxicity testing and its long-awaited launch is a direct response to Recommendation 1 of the Pattison Report published by the UK Government in December 2005. After lengthy negotiations with industry, the partnership will involve three private sector companies: GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca and Roche. Public sector support comes from the Department of Health (DH), the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS), the Scottish Government, the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). Further information is available on the company's website at http://www.sc4sm.org/
