Cambridge spinout Definigen has boosted its intellectual property portfolio by licensing additional research from the university.
Definigen, a stem cell spinout of Cambridge University, licensed additional research from the institution’s tech transfer arm Cambridge Enterprise yesterday in the form of cholangiocyte liver technology.
Cholangiocytes are specialised liver cells that form the bile duct. Diseases of these cells are the underlying cause for 30% of liver transplants.
The technology, which uses induced pluripotent stem cells to generate cholangiocytes, will enable Definigen to create optimised liver cell products and services for applications including disease modelling, drug screening and therapeutic target validation.
Already, cholangiocytes have been used to model cystic fibrosis and to demonstrate that small molecules can restore the function of a protein called cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator. Mutations in the gene that produces the protein lead to cystic fibrosis.
The cholangiocyte liver technology is based on research undertaken by Ludovic Vallier, Nick Hannan and Fotios Sampaziotis from the Anne McLaren Laboratory for Regenerative Medicine at Cambridge University.
Definigen aims to provide more accurate ways to predict the efficacy and toxicity of drug candidates ahead of clinical trials. The company’s platform, Optidiff, uses stem cells to produce liver, pancreas, intestinal and lung cells.
Cambridge Enterprise previously led a $2.3m funding round in May 2016 that also included Parkwalk Advisors, which manages funds on behalf of Cambridge University, 24 Haymarket, Providence Investment Company, Cambridge Capital Group and Definigen’s chairman Jonathan Milner.
In 2014, Cambridge Enterprise participated in a $3.8m a series A round alongside 24 Haymarket, Providence Investment Company, Cambridge Capital Group, London Business Angels, Wren Capital, Ranworth Capital and Jonathan Milner.
Cambridge Enterprise also led a $2.1m funding round in 2013.
Marcus Yeo, chief executive of Definigen, said: “This licence enables us to use stem cells to grow highly functional cholangiocyte cells on an industrial scale for the first time. These cholangiocyte cells provide an excellent model system for deepening our understanding of liver disease, and they can accelerate the development of new, more effective therapies.”
