Epistem Announces Partnership with The University of Manchester

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Manchester, United Kingdom, November 10, 2011 / B3C newswire / - Epistem plc (LSE: EHP), the UK biotechnology and personalised medicine company, announce a partnership with Dr Matthew Hardman at The University of Manchester in which novel preclinical models for cutaneous wound healing, developed within Dr Hardman’s laboratory, will be transferred to Epistem.

Epistem and The University of Manchester have been awarded a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) grant from the Technology Strategy Board and Medical Research Council to optimise, validate and commercialise new preclinical assays for wound repair. A KTP Associate has been appointed to work within Epistem on the project. Dr Hardman is a world-leading expert in molecular and cellular aspects of pathological healing and heads a multi-disciplinary research group within the Manchester Healing Foundation Centre for Tissue Regeneration at the University. Epistem’s Contract Research Services Division provides specialised preclinical and scientific research services to drug development and personal care companies in the areas of oncology, mucositis, inflammatory bowel disease, wound healing and skincare. Epistem are experienced in commercialising new technologies and the partnership will allow the Company to expand its existing range of wound healing models and to provide a broad, innovative service range.

Dr Hardman, who is based in the University’s Faculty of Life Sciences, said:It is a real privilege to be awarded the first ever KTP grant to be sponsored by the Medical Research Council. This partnership represents a tremendous opportunity to realise the potential of our work.”

Catherine Booth, Managing Director at Epistem, added: “We are delighted to be working with Dr Hardman, who is a highly regarded wound healing expert, and to be able to provide our customers with access to cutting edge preclinical models.”


About Epistem
Epistem is a biotechnology and personalised medicine company commercialising its expertise in epithelial stem cells in the areas of oncology, gastrointestinal diseases and dermatological applications. Epistem develops innovative therapeutics, biomarkers, diagnostics and provides contract research services to drug development companies. The Group’s expertise is focused on the regulation of adult stem cells located in epithelial tissue, which includes the gastrointestinal tract, skin, hair follicles, breast and prostate. Epistem does not conduct research in the areas of embryonic stem cells or stem cell transplantation. Epistem operates three distinct business divisions, Contract Research Services, Novel Therapies and Personalised Medicine. The Contract Research Services provides specialised preclinical efficacy testing primarily for drug development companies on a ‘fee for service’ basis. This division has an eleven-year track record of providing testing services to international company clients in Europe, the United States and Japan.

About The University of Manchester
The University of Manchester, a member of the Russell Group, is one of the largest and most popular universities in the UK. It has 22 academic schools and hundreds of specialist research groups undertaking pioneering multi-disciplinary teaching and research of worldwide significance. According to the results of the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, The University of Manchester is now one of the country’s major research institutions, rated third in the UK in terms of ‘research power’. The University had an annual income of £788 million in 2009/10.

About Knowledge Transfer Partnerships
Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) is Europe's leading programme helping businesses to improve their competitiveness by enabling companies to work with higher education or research and technology organisations to obtain knowledge, technology or skills which they consider to be of strategic competitive importance. The UK-wide programme is overseen by the Technology Strategy Board (www.innovateuk.org), the UK’s innovation agency, and supported by 16 other public sector funding organisations.


Contact

Epistem
Matthew Walls Chief Executive Officer             +44 (0) 161 606 7258
Danielle Hargreaves (Public Relations)         +44 (0) 7920 815603                             

De Facto Financial
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