Administrators called in at CellFactors
CellFactors, a UK biotechnology company developing therapeutic products from human cells, has gone into administration following its failure to raise additional equity finance.
CellFactors, a UK biotechnology company developing therapeutic products from human cells, has gone into administration following its failure to raise additional equity finance.
In recent months, the company has been exploring a number of routes to raise the funds needed to continue the pre-clinical development of its lead product Skeletex, a biological matrix derived from human cells that induces new vascularised bone growth.
CellFactors, which has raised a total of £7m since it was founded in 1997, has generated a range of valuable assets including:
• Skeletex: a novel biological matrix that has been shown in preclinical models to induce new vascularised bone growth. It is currently in a well-defined preclinical programme, which is designed to produce the data needed to conclude licensing deals to commercialise the product for dental and orthopaedic applications.
• A strong intellectual property portfolio, which includes a pivotal US and European IP position covering the production and immortalisation of human neural cell lines. The patent also covers cells and cell lines produced by this method, including cells engineered to contain a genetic safety switch.
'Obviously this is a sad day for CellFactors, given the progress we have made in the past six months and the commercial potential of the technology and intellectual property portfolio that we have assembled,' said former ceo Paul Bailey. 'I am convinced that we shall receive significant interest in these assets.'