Scottish Enterprise science group in licence deal

Published on Wednesday 4 February 2009 20:18

ITI Life Sciences – one of Scottish Enterprise's publicly funded investment bodies – yesterday signed a licensing agreement to commercialise stem cell technology.

Under the terms of the agreement, ITI Life Sciences will receive royalties from the sale of products, although no financial terms of the deal were disclosed.

In 2007, ITI Life Sciences launched a 9.5 million stem cell technology programme to develop an automated process to make "high-quality, ethically derived human embryonic stem cells", which have the potential to develop into any other type of cell.

Yesterday's agreement was signed with Cellartis, a Swedish firm that set up a base in Dundee to take part in the ITI Life Sciences scheme.

Other partners in the original programme included Dundee, Glasgow and Heriot-Watt universities.

ITI Life Sciences said: "This technology has the potential of driving unprecedented innovation in drug discovery and regenerative medicine today and in the future."

The licence is the seventh to be awarded by ITI Life Sciences and the tenth by ITI Scotland, the parent body that overseas the three ITI companies.

The other ITIs focus on energy and digital media. All three lost their independence last month, to be "folded into" Scottish Enterprise.

Health secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: "This is a positive development –both for the Scottish economy and for public health. Not only do ITI Scotland's licence deals create new revenue streams for the economy, but they also help to stimulate growth and create new jobs."