Life Sciences Scotland news

Stemgent, Inc, an American biotechnology company, has announced the formation of a new company based in Dundee - Ubiquigent Ltd. As part of the agreement, Stemgent will invest approximately £3 million ($4.7 million) in the new venture over the next three years.

Ubiquigent will produce biological products and services generated by the SCottish Institute for ceLL Signalling (SCILLS) at the University of Dundee. SCILLS is directed by Sir Philip Cohen and concentrates on an emerging area of cell signalling called protein ubiquitylation, which has great potential for the development of drugs to treat cancer and chronic inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis.

The announcement was welcomed by Minister for Skills and Lifelong Learning Keith Brown, who said:

"This is an excellent investment for Dundee and for Scotland's life sciences sector. Our pioneering research and technology is globally renowned. We have a clear academic lead in this field. The Scottish Government is fully committed to growing this sector and maximising the talent within the sector. This is why we met our manifesto commitment and invested £10 million to establish a life sciences institute in Dundee, the SCILLS unit, and provided £3 million to support the recruitment of up to 100 new apprentices within the life sciences sector last year.

"Stemgent, Inc has chosen Scotland, Dundee, to set up its first company overseas. The world class talent, skills and technology within the SCILLS unit at the University of Dundee is undoubtedly a huge factor in this move. I wish the new company, Ubiquigent Ltd, and all the team in SCILLS the very best in this exciting venture."

Sir Philip Cohen said:

"The initial aim of SCILLS has been to build up a critical mass of leading scientists researching the ubiquitin system. The longer term aim is to attract new biotechnology companies to Scotland and to facilitate the development of improved drugs to treat diseases that target components of the ubiquitin system.

"It is therefore extremely exciting and most gratifying that Ubiquigent Ltd has been formed just one year after the launch of SCILLS, several years earlier than the predictions I made in my business plan!"

SCILLS is the world's first research unit dedicated to the study of protein ubiquitylation, a process which regulates almost all aspects of cell life. Abnormalities in this process are a cause of cancer as well as chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.

The formation of Ubiquigent renews Sir Philip's acquaintance with Stemgent and Ubiquigent's chief executive officer Ian Ratcliffe, who previously played a key role in helping establish the European division of Upstate in Dundee in 1999, a company that markets proteins and other services needed for the study of protein phosphorylation to the academic community and pharmaceutical industry.

"I am delighted to be working once again with Ian Ratcliffe with whom I had such a productive collaboration when he was with Upstate," said Sir Philip.

"The European Division of Upstate was set up in Dundee to exploit reagents and technologies developed by the MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit, of which I am also the Director, and I am confident that the collaboration between Ubiquigent and SCILLS will be equally successful. I would also like to thank the Scottish Government for providing the funding to set up SCILLS, without which the formation of Ubiquigent would never have happened."

Ian Ratcliffe said: "This is my second business venture in Dundee and we are confident our strategy and timing are right for success.

"At Stemgent we are highly energised to be working with Sir Philip and his team of world class scientists in a rapidly evolving new drug target area, Ubiquitylation. This is a fascinating scientific field - the role and mechanism of action of most of the proteins involved in the complex biology of the ubiquitin proteasome pathway (UPP) still have to be fully understood, and only some of the tools necessary to do this exist today.

"Stemgent is very grateful to Scottish Development International and Scottish Enterprise for the guidance and support we have received in establishing our operations in Dundee - they exhibit the best practices of regional support."

Working with the Protein Ubiquitylation Unit of SCILLS, Ubiquigent will develop high performance, application tested reagents that can help the scientific community make discoveries that will eventually lead to useful and valuable new drugs.

According to the terms of the agreement, Stemgent will handle initial marketing of Ubiquigent products in the US; marketing arrangements for Europe and the balance of the world will be announced in the near future.

Ubiquigent Ltd has already recruited its first three employees and has established a base in SCILLS where the staff have been working closely with the Protein Production and Assay Development Team of SCILLS in preparation for the initial product launch. The company intends to move to a purpose-built facility in Dundee during 2010.

Ian Ratcliffe previously worked with Upstate Inc as its Chief Financial Officer (1997-2001), Executive Vice President of Sales and Innovation (2001-2003) and President and Chief Operating Officer (2003-2004). In these positions he played a key role in setting up the European Division of Upstate in the Dundee Technology Park in 1999, and directing its operations until it was acquired by Serologicals for $US 200 million in 2004. Serologicals was subsequently bought by Millipore in 2006.