 A Meeting of Minds in Regenerative Medicine
Thursday 28th September, 2006
Bionow & UMIC celebrate inaugural symposium
Last week, key national and regional players driving the development of Regenerative Medicine, gathered at the Core Technology Facility in Manchester.
Industry professionals, scientists and academic leaders discussed a diverse mix of topics covering the scientific, strategic, ethical, regulatory and commercial factors that need to be addressed, to maintain and grow the regions strong position in this area.
Dr Linda Magee NWDA Biotechnology Sector Director and Head of Bionow, the biotechnology cluster organisation responsible for supporting the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and healthcare industries in the Northwest, said:
From the start of the Northwest Regional Development Agencys (NWDA) Bionow programme, we recognised that regenerative medicine was a key USP for the Northwest region, both in terms of research excellence and also commercial development. These kinds of meetings and events are key to help support and develop the regenerative medicine community and we were delighted to sponsor this one.
Ruth McDermott of UMIC, the University of Manchester Incubator Company, which planned and hosted the event, commented:
This was first and foremost a networking opportunity, bringing together all of the key individuals from across the UK, to a forum in which they productively discuss and share different perspectives on this emerging field of medicine. We hope that by establishing and maintaining strong links between academic and industrial expertise we can ensure that research excellence continues to be translated into meaningful and successful healthcare solutions.
Manchester has a strong presence in the area of regenerative medicine, with both Intercytex and Renovo listed on the stock market. Events like this are instrumental in crystallising the interaction between academic researchers, clinicians and companies and we look forward to organising forthcoming events in the future.
At the interactive networking event, delegates got a special early preview of the new DTI-led guidelines for cell-based therapeutics and how they will affect the industry, which are due to be published in October.
The importance of maintaining lines of communication between researchers and product developers, even at the earliest stages, was highlighted by Richard Archer of the Remedi consortium, in a presentation outlining the manufacturing engineering systems approach to the development of regenerative therapies.
Dr Penny Johnson, of Manchester-based Intercytex, went on to share some of the commercial expertise needed to actually bring these kinds of products to market. Dr Peter Hollands of the UK Cord Blood Bank, explained how this source of cells expands the options for tissue regeneration research. Delegates also learned about the concentration of research excellence in Manchester, which will be further complemented by the new GMP facilities in the regions new UK Centre for Tissue Regeneration and NW Embryonic Stem Cell Centre.
At the close of the meeting Ruth McDermott was happy to report that delegate feedback was immensely positive and plans for the next meeting were already underway. Delegate comments included that the event offered a well balanced agenda backed up by a good set of speakers with a broad mix of professions, and good sharing of views and expertise providing valuable insight into the exciting ongoing work. Overwhelmingly delegates concluded that the meeting provided a good networking opportunity and was even better than expected.
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