Invitrogen takes minority stake in Q Thera

Invitrogen Corp, a provider of essential life science technologies for research, production and diagnostics, says it has made a minority investment in Q Therapeutics, a fellow USA-based biotechnology firm pursuing cell therapeutic indications for the central nervous system. Financial details of the investment were not disclosed.

Q Therapeutics, based in Salt Lake City, Utah, focuses on CNS and other neurodegenerative diseases where the protective insulating myelin sheath around neurons has been destroyed by disease or injury, resulting in poor signal conduction, as well as neurodegenerative diseases causing neuronal death. Initial disease targets include multiple sclerosis, transverse myelitis and Lou Gehrig's Disease. The company's initial approach is to obtain purified populations of differentiated CNS cells, culture and grow them, and inject them into the patient. The cells then recreate the insulation around the neuronal axons, allowing for proper signal conduction and improved neuronal function. Clinical trials for TM are anticipated at Johns Hopkins University in 2009.