Reliance Life Sciences' cell biology initiative

By Our Staff Correspondent

MUMBAI, AUG. 28. Reliance Life Sciences, incorporated in January 2001, has been listed by the National Institutes of Health USA, as one of the ten companies and research institutions working in the area of embryonic stem cells and eligible for federal research funds under the new U.S. Presidential guidelines.

The company has established a cell biology research centre in Mumbai which is the first of its kind in Asia. Mr. Mukesh Ambani, vice chairman of the Reliance group, said, ``We are enthused by the promise of our cell biology initiative to offer novel research-led therapies, herald the frontier area of regenerative medicine and benefit mankind.''

Stem cells are undifferentiated and immortal cells in the body with the ability to grow into different types of cells to regenerate cells or tissues. The cell biology centre is focusing on research and development in stem cells and tissue engineering. Various teams in the centre are engaged in the areas of assisted reproduction, embryonic stem cells, haematopoietic stem cells, genetics, molecular diagnostics, gene therapy and tissue engineering.

The centre aims to deliver novel, affordable cell-based therapies and engineer tissues to address unmet medical needs in the Indian and global healthcare markets. Therapies developed by this centre would provide better alternatives to existing medical approaches, such as stem cell enriched cord blood transplant vs. bone marrow transplant, cultured skin vs. wound dressing or offer new therapies such as gene-based therapies. Reliance Life Sciences is creating one of the largest cord blood repositories in the world, as part of the cell biology centre.

The repository would cryopreserve stem cell enriched cord blood at -196 degrees centigrade in a computer controlled robotics- based bioarchive system. As an adjunct to the cord blood repository, Reliance Life Sciences is creating a molecular diagnostics facility for HLA typing and infectious diseases testing. The cell biology centres currently has a team strength of 51 members. Of these, 30 are technically qualified and include 20 Ph.Ds and 4 MDs.

The centre would have a facility to make cultured skin; covering cultured epidermis, cultured dermis and composite skin. Cultured skin has a strong value proposition in treating burns, vitiligo and in cosmetology. This will be the first facility for cultured skin in India.

In the second phase of cell biology initiative, Reliance Life Sciences would establish a full-fledged regenerative medicine centre in Mumbai. This facility will have a dedicated clinical environment for development and application of cell transplants and research labs for additional disciplines such as pancreatic, hepatic and retinal stem cells.

Reliance Life Sciences would also be taking initiatives in other areas of biotechnology covering the medical, plant and industrial spectra and plans for these areas are under finalisation.

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