Widecells Group PLC (LON:WDC) Chief Executive Officer João Andrade and Chief Scientific Officer Peter Hollands caught up with DirectorsTalk for an exclusive interview to discuss the Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Partnership for stem cell research with Manchester Metropolitan University
Q1: Now, we know Widecells Group is an end-to-end stem cell service provider, today’s new though is all about research. João, how does the research side of things fit in with your business?
A1: At Widecells Group, we have three divisions, one is an education and training division that we call WideAcademy where we provide accurate scientific and medical information to both medical professionals and the general population, we believe that by providing education and training to medical professionals, they can recommend stem cell storage and stem cell services.
For that reason, we have established our own laboratory facility at the University of Manchester we have the technology and the ability to store stem cells from a wide range of human tissues, one of them being baby’s umbilical cord blood that families can store to protect their family against future illness.
We also have CellPlan which is the world’s first stem cell insurance plan that should cover the cost associated with treatment if the family needs to use the stem cells that they have cryopreserved if they need to use them in the future.
Now, because we have established that state of the art facility, we had the idea also to start being involved in stem cell research and we received the license halfway through last year and we got involved into some contract research projects.
The main points of why we are involved in research is we believe that our mission is to provide accessibility and affordability to stem cell treatments at a global scale. By being involved in stem cell research, we believe that we can drive the next generation of stem cell technology so all of our service offering, as you mentioned, is an end-to-end solution, it has as its core being able to make it more accessible to the general population. So, any project that you see on our site will exactly fit into this mission.
Q2: Peter, can you tell us a bit more about what this research project is?
A2: Yes, so it’s a research project that’s being funded by Innovate UK and it’s called the Knowledge Transfer Partnership. What is basically does is it provides funds for us to collaborate with Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) so the academics and the scientists there have technology that’s called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC’s).
What iPSC’s are is that you can actually create stem cells from adult cells so if you imagine if we can take some adult blood or some adult’s skin or something like that, what we do is we introduce new genes into those cells and as a result of that, they turn into stem cells again. This is extremely important because if you can make stem cells from adult cells, this means we’re all effectively carrying around a stock of stem cells which is incredible important and potentially, clinically, significant.
So, the project itself will be to develop clinical-grade iPSC’s and once again, this is extremely important because at the moment most of these things are developed in research labs, so they’re not developed with the correct procedures, quality management or regulatory issues that are required for clinical grade. Having a clinical-grade iPSC means that you can then use it in routine clinical treatments and research and so on.
So, a very exciting time for us and an absolutely brilliant project.
Q3: Innovate UK are providing the funding but who are Innovate UK and what’s the significance of their involvement?
A3: Innovate UK is a governmental based organisation and they provide funding for a whole wide range of research. In our case, they’re providing the so-called Knowledge Transfer Partnership, and this is extremely important I think because it brings together two groups of people who otherwise wouldn’t work together to create a novel product and, in our case, as I mentioned, is Professor Tristan McKay at Manchester Metropolitan University and ourselves.
MMU have the iPSC technology so they’re the research guys, we have all the clinical expertise, we can produce cells to clinical grade and that’s another significant expertise so bringing those two together in collaboration means we can make a unique product that would not exist otherwise. So, Innovate UK are brilliant from that point of view.
Q4: Looking ahead, what’s the potential of these new types of stem cells, both for the industry and the impact of Widecells’ involvement?
A4: iPSC’s have been around for about 10 years or so now and they have enormous potential and bringing them to clinical grade is one of the key steps to realising that potential. The things it can be used for is, for example:
• Treating diseases so we can use them for cell therapy either on the patient themselves or on other people,
• We can use them to study disease, these cells have got some amazing properties and they can actually even form many organs in the laboratory, so you can make so-called organoids and you can make brain organoids and live and kidney and so on. These are effectively tiny little pieces of tissue which you can study disease in,
• We can test pharmaceuticals, so you can imagine if you had a pharmaceutical for cancer, you could develop some cells and test them that way,
• Perhaps, most importantly, it’s also been given the idea of personalised medicine so imagine if you have a patient with a specific disease and you don’t know which probe to use on that patient.
So, you could take cells from the patient, make the iPSC’s and then screen all the drugs in the laboratory for that particular patient so that would be immensely valuable in routine clinical practice.
So, all in all, the potential is fantastic and we’re so excited to be part of this project.
Q5: At the end of the research project you’re going to hopefully have a new type of stem cell treatment that be commercialised, how will this affect Widecells current business offering, João?
A5: Well, this Knowledge Transfer Partnership will enable us to become the first UK company to bring clinical-grade iPSC’s to a channel market at scale, that’s by developing and manufacturing in frozen banking facility in Manchester for clinical-grade iPSC’s.
Incorporating clinical-grade iPSC technology into our services fits perfectly with our company’s vision to make stem cell treatment even more accessible and affordable globally. Widecells will then be able to enter a new global market offering clinical-grade products, tailored exactly to the client’s needs.
