In the wake of the growing number of stem cell research initiatives, Manipal University has invested Rs 10 crore to establish its second advanced stem cell lab. The lab, which is under the aegis of the Stempeutics Research Pvt. Ltd, is located at the Manipal University campus.

The first lab of Stempeutics is in Bangalore in the Manipal Hospital. Going by the increasing number of projects, a second lab was conceived as part of the major expansion plans, stated B N. Manohar, president, Stempeutics Research.

Supported by the University, the state-of-the-art facility located at Shirdi Sai Baba Cancer Hospital is conceived to further leverage the research and clinical experience gained and also to address the needs of patients with limited treatment options for the conditions like dilated cardio myopathy, end stage lever disease and osteoarthritis. First lab was established in Bangalore in 2006.

The Stempeutics manufacturing facility at Manipal is cGMP (current Good Manufacturing Practice) compliant. The facility is around 5,000 sq ft with the state-of-art laboratory equipments and two class 10K clean rooms. It has been designed to meet the future plan of accreditation requirements of the USA Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT) and the manufacturing process will adhere to cGTP (current Good Tissue Practice).

Stempeutics is the first company to employ a global hybrid model whereby it offers both autologus and allogenic stem cell therapy for various diseases.

Dr Ramdas Pai, Chancellor, Manipal University said "Stem cell therapy is showing promising results for various diseases and it is currently used where the conventional therapies could not cure the disease. Keeping in mind the overall disease burden of various medical conditions and the potential for stem cell therapy globally, we are setting up our third lab at Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. Malaysia Lab will be operational in August 2008. With the expertise of the clinicians at Kasturba Medical College at Manipal and Mangalore, we will stand to gain and realize the clinical value of stem cells".

Dr HS Ballal, Pro Chancellor, Manipal University said "We are committed to developing Manipal as one of the stem cell research and therapy hubs". There is ample focus on CME programs in latest developments in stem cells research and conduct formal hands on short term courses in regenerative medicine in collaboration with Manipal University.

"While the initial foray of Stempeutics is in bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells, Stempeutics is investing heavily on its R&D to bring out some innovative products (like tailor made progenitor cells) in the near future based on adult stem cells. It is also investing money on its long term goal of leveraging human embryonic stem cells for therapeutics purpose. Stempeutics will work closely with Manipal Assisted Reproduction Center in Kasturba Hospital to set up the human embryonic stem cells lines for advanced research," said, president, Stempeutics Research.

He said, "There will be continuous research for each disease so as to improve product development for effective therapy. Research will be conducted on effective cell number, route of transplantation, etc. Further research will be carried out to develop lineage specific cells or precursor cells for more effective therapy, added Dr Satish Totey, chief scientific officer, Stempeutics Research.