Plasticell and National University of Ireland Form Stem-Cell Pact

Biotech company, Plasticell, announced that it has entered into an agreement with National University of Ireland, Galway (NUI Galway) to collaborate on research targeting cancer stem cells. Cancer stem cells are often resistant to chemotherapy and thought to be the cause of relapse following treatment. However, it has been observed that cancer stem cells can become susceptible to chemotherapy when appropriately stimulated by certain drugs; such an approach can lead to complete remission of the tumor after treatment is withdrawn.

Plasticell will use its proprietary Combinatorial Cell Culture (CombiCult) platform to discover combinations of drugs, growth factors, and chemotherapeutic agents that are capable of eradicating cancer stem cells in leukemia. Research work will be carried out at Plasticell and in Dr. Eva Szegezdi’s laboratory at the Apoptosis Research Centre, NUI Galway. This collaboration is part funded by an Enterprise Partnership grant from the Irish Research Council.

Source: Plasticell