Setting the standard for cell therapy: Project update

UK-Canada cooperation in regenerative medicine and cell therapy continues to thrive, with the Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (CCRM) in Canada and Cell Therapy Catapult in the UK recently signing a collaborative agreement. Initial outputs from SIN Canada’s main project in this sector (Setting the standard for cell therapy) are expected towards the end of the year, but for now here’s SINtern Hannah Corbett’s take on the activities:

In September 2011, a UK-Canada joint declaration was endorsed by the British and Canadian Prime Ministers, David Cameron and Stephen Harper, which contained the following statement: “Exploiting the fact that Canada and the UK are global leaders in health research, including regenerative medicine and cell therapy, we will use existing initiatives and mechanisms to foster collaboration, facilitating the translation of our advanced knowledge into life-changing therapies that will benefit our patients, healthcare institutions and industries.”

The direct consequence of this statement was the formation of a UK-Canada-USA collaboration, spearheaded by the Science and Innovation Network Canada, which brought together leading figures in regenerative medicine and stem cell research with the goal of setting global standards for stem cell therapies.

An initial 2-day workshop, held in December 2012 at the Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (CCRM) in Toronto, gathered together a steering committee who defined the overall agenda for a larger workshop held in March 2013 in Washington D.C. Three categories at this initial meeting were identified as areas for further consideration: 1) source of cells; 2) assays; and 3) nomenclature.

The focus of the D.C. workshop was to redefine what we mean when we talk about mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), developing a consensus that could be agreed upon and adopted by the larger regenerative medicine community. The overall output of the two conferences was to develop ongoing collaborations between participants in the form of smaller working groups, focusing on the three areas initially identified in the first workshop. Ultimately these collaborations will lead to the publication of white papers detailing the new definitions and standards that will be available to and adopted by a wider-reaching audience.