Remedi to close gap between stem-cell research and human trial

Funding was announced this week to speed up the development of medical treatments based on adult stem-cell research, writes DICK AHLSTROM

RESEARCH FINDINGS in key areas, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and arthritis, will soon lead much more quickly to human trials, thanks to a new investment of nearly €10 million. The money will help the process of turning medical discoveries into new treatments.

The money from Science Foundation Ireland will support work being done at Remedi, NUI Galway’s Regenerative Medicine Institute. Remedi is already a leading centre for biomedical research into the use of adult stem cells in delivering regenerative therapies. But the new funds, rather than supporting further discovery, will be used to deliver treatments based on existing findings, according to Prof Tim O’Brien, Remedi director and head of medicine at NUIG.

“Having discovered factors related to stem cells we now want to take that information and generate the data a regulatory body would require to take a treatment to human trials,” says O’Brien, who is also a consultant endocrinologist at Galway University Hospitals.

Remedi has specialised in the study of stem cells from adult sources rather than from embryos. Stem cells are a form of progenitor cell that the body uses to replace tissues that die off over time. Researchers have found that, if accumulated, these adult cells can also be used in specialised treatments to regenerate diseased or damaged tissues. As an example, O’Brien mentions his own research into “critical limb ischemia”, a condition often seen in diabetics. Hardening of the blood vessels over time leaves limbs with a dangerously low blood supply, a condition that frequently leads to amputation. “We want to use stem cells to generate new blood vessels,” O’Brien says.

One possible way of doing this could be to use a patient’s own endothelial progenitor cells, which, under the correct biological conditions, can encourage the growth of new blood vessels. Remedi research has shown that these adult stem cells are “dysfunctional” in diabetics and will not perform correctly. A missing biochemical substance or factor that causes this has been identified, and replacing it can reverse the effect.

This missing factor is just one of the discoveries made at Remedi that can now be targeted for regulatory approval and possible clinical trial, O’Brien says. Others include possible ways of repairing the damage caused by heart attacks and of stopping the joint damage caused by rheumatoid arthritis.

The €9.69 million funding was announced on Monday by Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation Batt O’Keeffe. O’Brien believes that the funding will open the way to human trials within two years. By this time both NUI Galway’s new biosciences research building and a translational research facility at Galway University Hospitals should be open. They will assist with the translation of the basic science into clinical treatments.

Galway University Hospitals will also host the new Health Research Board Clinical Research Facility, funded by the Health Research Board and the Health Service Executive. Th facility will serve as the outlet for the new treatments.