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In 1999, Roslin Bio-Med (now Geron Bio-Med) was acquired by the Geron Corporation of California in a deal that ensures a continuing close collaboration between Roslin and Geron scientists. Geron has committed a total of £12.5M for research at Roslin over a period of six years and received in return an exclusive licence to Roslin Institute's nuclear transfer technology in all areas of application except those previously licensed to PPL Therapeutics. The deal with Geron brings together three key technologies - stem cell isolation, telomerase and nuclear transfer. Much of the emphasis of Geron-funded research at Roslin Institute has been on understanding the mechanisms involved in the reprogramming of adult cells: this is the key to improving the success rate of cloning per se, and in progressing the concept of stem cell therapy.
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Roslin Institute currently has large number collaborations in both the agricultural and biotechnological sectors.
Biotechnology/biomedicine
The number of projects involving the biotech sector is to date relatively small, though the financial commitment for each project tends to be large.
Geron - The intellectual property involved in the creation of Dolly the sheep was initially commercialised through establishment of a spin-out company, Roslin BioMed, in which Roslin Institute and 3i held the majority of the equity. Roslin BioMed was subsequently sold to Geron Corp, one of world’s leading companies in regenerative medicine.
Geron subsequently re-directed their research spend at Roslin exclusively to human stem cell research and as a consequence Roslin operated one of the largest groups in the UK working on human ES cells.
Research to derive hepatocytes from human ES cells is a three way collaboration between Geron, Roslin and Dundee-based CXR BioSciences, and reflects the need for regular supply of hepatocytes for in vitro toxicity testing to the pharmaceutical industry.
The Institute has an established collaboration with CXR BioSciences, Dundee, to develop novel gene reporter systems for use in animals. Recently this has focussed on evaluating non-invasive systems relying on excreted proteins and the differentiation of ES cells. The expectation is that such systems will offer commercial and animal welfare advantages. The partners aim to exploit this work through third parties, while using the new systems themselves to address specific scientific questions in gene activation and toxic insult.
Roslin’s collaboration with US biotechnology company Viragen is based on granted patents for ex ovo culture of avian embryos and our long-term interest in avian transgenics and aims to create transgenic chickens for large scale production of human antibodies for use as anti-cancer therapies.
The Institute has a long track record of successful collaboration in genetics research with livestock breeding companies. Recently we have begun research in the genetics of aquacultured species. These strands are brought together in a project looking at the genetic basis of resistance to a devastating disease in Salmon - Infectious Pancreatic Necrosis (IPN). The industrial partners are Landcatch Natural Selection (LNS) - one of the most technologically advanced breeders of Atlantic salmon in the world. With research funds from the BBSRC and access to experimental and field data from LNS, we have been collaborating to estimate the extent of genetic control of disease resistance and to try and identify genes associated with resistance. This will lead to improved ways of further improving disease resistance in LNS breeding lines. The success of this first project has led to a second project that is just being initiated. This time the project is funded as a Knowledge Transfer Partnership and will extend the approach to a new disease, as well as helping embed the necessary expertise within the company for future use. This collaboration should lead to further scientific results and publications for Roslin, with the research applied within LNS breeding programmes to provide an economic return to the company. |
