Capsant to lead major consortium to develop 3D Stem cell systems for drug screening
Capsant Neurotechnologies has announced today that it is to lead a major government funded consortium to develop new 3D-Stem cell systems for drug screening. in a joint research project wih the University of Southampton, and King’s College, London. The consortium has been awarded funding of £1.6million over three years.
The grant will be used to explore innovative ways of testing new drugs using human stem cells and progenitor cells. The techniques involve growing cells in three-dimensional cultures on a membrane, rather than as a flat carpet of cells on a plastic dish. Grown like this, they effectively take on the characteristics of heart, brain and liver cells.
Leading the research is Professor Lars Sundstrom, Chief Scientific Officer of Capsant, said ‘Essentially, we are making mini-organs in a dish so that the testing of new pharmaceutical products can be carried out more accurately.’
Welcoming the new partnership, Science and Innovation Minister, Malcolm Wicks said: ‘The UK has a proud history of innovation in science and technology. We believe that we must work with industry to develop the marketable products and services of tomorrow, so that we can maintain our position as a leading global economy.
‘That’s why we’re supporting this project, which explores innovative ways of testing new drugs. It provides a great opportunity to harness the UK’s world-class expertise.’ | 
