UK Govt awards £1.85m grant to Intercytex, TAP to automate making of hair loss treatment
Intercytex (ICX.L) and its partner, The Automation Partnership (TAP), said today that they have been awarded a £1.85m grant by the UK Department of Trade and Industry to develop an automated manufacturing process for ICX-TRC, Intercytex' novel hair regeneration therapy.
Cambridge-based Intercytex is a leading cell therapy company developing products to restore and regenerate skin and hair and The Automation Partnership, also in Cambridge, specialises in the automation of life science processes.
The grant will be used primarily to develop a dedicated robotic system to support the commercial-scale production of dermal papilla (DP) cells, the main cells involved in hair regeneration and the key component of ICX-TRC.
The Intercytex approach to hair regeneration centres on extracting an individual's DP cells from a small hair follicle biopsy at the back of the head, multiplying the cells in a proprietary aseptic culture system and then re-implanting the cells back in the head to induce new hairs.
TAP robotics
The robotic system developed by TAP has an established track record in processing many different cell samples simultaneously in the context of high throughput drug screening. TAP systems are employed by many of the world's top pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. The DTI grant will be used to adapt this proven technology to produce autologous (i.e. sourced from and returned to the same individual) human cells in a reliable, efficient way and at a scale that can handle a large number of people.
Intercytex Chief Executive Officer Nick Higgins (pictured) said: "The large-scale production of ICX-TRC will be key to its commercial success and this collaboration will support our scale-up work.
“ICX-TRC is currently in Phase II clinical testing and this project should ensure we are in a position to produce cells to treat large numbers of people, both in our later stage clinical trials and when ICX-TRC is launched.”
Intercytex is currently trading at 87.5p, valuing the company at around £41m.
The award to Intercytex and TAP is part of a total £12.6m grant funding available from DTI and the Research Councils for collaboration in Regenerative Medicine Technologies as part of the Technology Programme's Autumn 2005 Competition for Funding. This competition invited proposals for innovative collaborative projects developing technology for regenerative medicine applications involving both science and business.
6th October 2006
