Stem cells for drug discovery
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Stem cells for Biological Assays of Novel drugs and prediCtive toxiCology (StemBANCC)
IRAS ID
112302
Contact name
Heather House
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Oxford
Duration of Study in the UK
5 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Current drug discovery programmes are based on biological models that do not reflect patient populations. Promising chemicals can be identified in animal models or current cell culture systems, but they frequently fail in clinical settings, through poor efficacy or unexpected toxicity. Drug discovery based on human models representative of the patient population would represent a great improvement. However it is generally not possible to have access to sufficient relevant tissue for high throughput experimentation. Stem cell based disease modelling is a solution whereby patient tissue is reprogrammed to pluripotency and differentiated into a cell type closely resembling the tissue bearing the brunt of disease. This allows findings to be related directly to actual genetics and clinical histories of those suffering from diseases studied.
This project has two phases. The first, for which ethics approval is sought, is to collect tissues and associated clinical data from patients and healthy volunteers, and develop and validate cell lines which could be used for drug discovery. 460 participants will be recruited over 3 years through hospital clinics, pre-existing databases, patient support group websites, posters in primary care practices, and advertisements on the study website. Participants will attend two visits, up to 30 months apart. Each visit begins with a clinical assessment to determine eligibility. If eligible, assessment information accompanies samples. If not, information will be destroyed. A blood sample will be taken at both visits. A skin biopsy (or hair ) will be taken at the first visit and, if necessary, at the second. In some cases, samples have already been collected as a part of other ethically approved research and have appropriate consent for future use. These may be included in study numbers.
Establishment and use of the validated bioresource resulting from this project is a second phase and appropriate research bank ethics will be sought.REC name
South Central - Hampshire A Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
13/SC/0179
Date of REC Opinion
9 May 2013
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion