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New facility to put Scotland at global forefront of regenerative medicine
15 Jan 2007 -
A world-leading centre for excellence in regenerative medicine and stem cells is to be built in Edinburgh, Ministers confirmed. Funding support of £24 million from the Scottish Executive will allow the £59 million Scottish Centre for Regenerative Medicine (SCRM) to be developed by the University of Edinburgh in close collaboration with Scottish Enterprise. The SCRM, which will be part of the new Centre for Biomedical Research at Edinburgh's Little France, will be unique in Europe and is thought to be equalled only by Kobe in Japan on a global level.
In providing state-of-the-art research facilities, manufacturing capacity and commercialisation facilities, the SCRM will have three main elements:
- High-quality accommodation to support 220 academic researchers,
- A centre for 'scale-up' development and manufacture of cells,
- Multi-occupancy space to house commercial regenerative medicine research organisations and spin-outs
First Minister Jack McConnell said: "The SCRM will provide a focal point for Scotland's well-established strengths in regenerative medicine using stem cell technologies. The creation of this world-class centre will position Scotland as the leading UK and European location for this vital area of medical development, while also acting as a strong magnet to attract the best scientists, clinicians and regenerative medicine companies to our country. The technologies and potential health treatments based on stem cell research have tremendous potential for both health and economic development, with the prospect of delivering significant breakthroughs in the clinical treatment of some of the most degenerative diseases."
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