NSCC collaborates with LifeCell

The National Stem Cell Centre (NSCC) has recruited expatriate Australian scientist Dr Stephen Livesey to be the chief scientific officer of the Centre, Victorian Premier Steve Bracks has announced on the eve of the BIO2003 conference in Washington DC.

The appointment coincides with a license and collaboration agreement that the NSCC will enter with Livesey's company LifeCell Corporation, a $US100 million company specialising in regenerative medicine. Livesey will retain an affiliation with LifeCell, which he co-founded in 1986.

Bracks said it was great news for the NSCC, and for stem cell research globally.

Livesey said that LifeCell's technology promised to become and integral part of the NSCC's research into tissue regeneration, one of several avenues of research to be pursued by the Centre.

"LifeCell is a leader in the emerging field of regenerative medicine through the development and commercialisation of biological products to repair or replace the body's damaged tissue," said Livesey.

"The collaborative agreement grants the NSCC the rights to use LifeCell's tissue matrix technology in its internal research. It is a unique relationship that will enable the technology to be fast-tracked into the clinic."