SCOTTISH biotech Stem Cell Sciences has won important extensions to its US patent rights which it expects to boost revenues in the critical American pharmaceuticals market.
The company, which recently floated on the Alternative Investment Market, will now press ahead with plans to establish the fourth "leg" in its global business network, which currently comprises science and business teams in Edinburgh, Kobe in Japan and Melbourne, Australia.
Hugh Ilyine, chief operating officer, said a US business development subsidiary will be established next year. Unlike the other sites it will not have any laboratory facilities. However, he said the US branch will also build links with American academics to pursue new cell therapy opportunities. California is a possible location.
Stem cells are master cells which researchers hope can be coaxed to become any type of cell in the human body. Many scientists hope to one day harness them to grow replacement tissue to treat diabetes, spinal injuries and other conditions.
The additional claims granted by the US patent and trademark office relate to patented technology known as "stem cell selection". They cover methods of enriching for any type of mammalian stem cell, from any cell source, based on introduced genes such as fluorescent markers or cell surface proteins. The extension brings the granted US claims into line with those already granted in other territories, including the European Union.
Stem Cell said it expects the broadening of the patent claims to generate "considerable new business" through licensing of its technology to the US biopharmaceutical industry.
Dr Tim Allsopp, chief scientific officer, explained: "Having a sophisticated technology to derive highly-purified populations of stem cells, for example, nerve, heart, liver or blood stem cells, is a fundamental requirement for almost all stem cell applications, including cell therapies".
Dr Peter Mountford, president and chief executive officer of Stem Cell Sciences, added: "This is a very important technology for our field. SCS is committed to facilitating broad access to its key technologies and reagents in order to advance stem cell research and development.
"The valuable 'tool box' nature of this technology has already provided multi-million dollar revenues for the company. Developing new research partnerships and licensing agreements in the US for the stem cell selection technology is an important component of the company's plans to establish US-based operations in 2006."
There remains a doubt, nevertheless, over how the company's arrival will be greeted by some sections of the US public. Prominent conservatives, including the US president George W Bush and the Catholic church, are against stem cell research because in many cases the retrieval of stem cells requires the destruction of days-old embryos.
Ilyine denied this is a "significant issue" for the firm. He stressed that the bulk of its ongoing research will focus on mouse rather than human embryos, providing the "starting material" for drug-screening tests.
SCS listed on AIM on July 18 after raising £5.58m through a pre-flotation fundraising – less than the £10m to £15m which the company had hoped for.
The shares edged up 0.5p yesterday to close at 100p.
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