China invests in world-class research at Oxford
China invests in world-class research at Oxford
10:47, November 06, 2009 
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An innovative UK company has secured a one million pounds investment from Hong Kong for its micro-bioreactor technology, the first time a Chinese investor has provided funding for an Oxford University spin-out company.
The Zyoxel company aims to commercialise technology that enables cells to grow as three-dimensional tissues instead of conventional single layers, providing a more realistic and reliable basis for testing drugs and potentially advancing stem cell research.
It was invented by Professor Cui Zhanfeng of the Institute for Biomedical Engineering along with Dr Jill Urban from the Department of Physiology, Anatomy & Genetics and their colleagues.
"This is a great example of bringing world-class research to rapidly expanding markets in Asia," said Winston Chan, chief technical officer of the Hong-Kong-based investor CN Innovations Holdings Ltd.
"China is stepping up as a leading innovator in the pharmaceutical and stem cell field, including therapeutic stem cells," he said, adding "CN Innovations is a science-based technology and precision engineering company, and Zyoxel will be the basis of our bio-medical business which will be a key growth area within our group in the future."
Zyoxel's chief executive officer Dr Tim Hart estimates that the company's TissueFlex micro-bioreactors could reduce the average cost of drug development by at least 10 per cent, improving accuracy and time to market.
"Pharmaceutical, chemical and cosmetic companies need better and more reliable information when testing drugs and compounds," he said. "Using micro-bioreactors for 3D tissue culture to test chemicals on a range of lab-cultured human tissues will enable researchers to assess new drug candidates more intelligently."
Describing the technology, Professor Cui said: "Cells function very differently when grown as tissue in conditions closer to those of cells in the body. The micro-bioreactors are also individually perfused to mimic how cells in the body are constantly supplied with fresh nutrients and how waste products are removed via the blood. Recent research has shown that our technology can be used to culture more realistic cancer tissue for testing, offering a powerful new tool for cancer drug discovery programmes.
"Our micro-bioreactor has an elegant multi-well design, using a gas-permeable polymer to produce an easy-to-use consumable for higher throughput routine testing. The micro-bioreactor is transparent, to facilitate imaging and microscopy of complex cells and tissues during testing. This is particularly useful for studying cancer and neurological diseases.
He added: "Stem cells have enormous potential but there is a big gap in our understanding of how to reliably culture and grow them. Our bioreactors provide a simple format in which to culture and test stem cells, increasing the pace of screening and our understanding of these potentially very powerful therapeutic cells."
It has been estimated that the ability to detect toxicity at an earlier stage of drug development could save the global pharmaceutical industry about eight billion US dollars annually. Dr Hart believes the Zyoxel technology also has the potential to reduce the amount of animal testing worldwide by about 10 per cent a year.
The company also received a 100,000-pounds investment from the Oxford University Challenge Seed fund. Funding for the original technology development largely came from the UK's Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council.
The Chinese investment was announced by Isis Innovation; the university's technology transfer company. Zyoxel is developing partnerships with pharmaceutical companies and anticipates that the first product sales will take place within a year.
The Zyoxel company aims to commercialise technology that enables cells to grow as three-dimensional tissues instead of conventional single layers, providing a more realistic and reliable basis for testing drugs and potentially advancing stem cell research.
It was invented by Professor Cui Zhanfeng of the Institute for Biomedical Engineering along with Dr Jill Urban from the Department of Physiology, Anatomy & Genetics and their colleagues.
"This is a great example of bringing world-class research to rapidly expanding markets in Asia," said Winston Chan, chief technical officer of the Hong-Kong-based investor CN Innovations Holdings Ltd.
"China is stepping up as a leading innovator in the pharmaceutical and stem cell field, including therapeutic stem cells," he said, adding "CN Innovations is a science-based technology and precision engineering company, and Zyoxel will be the basis of our bio-medical business which will be a key growth area within our group in the future."
Zyoxel's chief executive officer Dr Tim Hart estimates that the company's TissueFlex micro-bioreactors could reduce the average cost of drug development by at least 10 per cent, improving accuracy and time to market.
"Pharmaceutical, chemical and cosmetic companies need better and more reliable information when testing drugs and compounds," he said. "Using micro-bioreactors for 3D tissue culture to test chemicals on a range of lab-cultured human tissues will enable researchers to assess new drug candidates more intelligently."
Describing the technology, Professor Cui said: "Cells function very differently when grown as tissue in conditions closer to those of cells in the body. The micro-bioreactors are also individually perfused to mimic how cells in the body are constantly supplied with fresh nutrients and how waste products are removed via the blood. Recent research has shown that our technology can be used to culture more realistic cancer tissue for testing, offering a powerful new tool for cancer drug discovery programmes.
"Our micro-bioreactor has an elegant multi-well design, using a gas-permeable polymer to produce an easy-to-use consumable for higher throughput routine testing. The micro-bioreactor is transparent, to facilitate imaging and microscopy of complex cells and tissues during testing. This is particularly useful for studying cancer and neurological diseases.
He added: "Stem cells have enormous potential but there is a big gap in our understanding of how to reliably culture and grow them. Our bioreactors provide a simple format in which to culture and test stem cells, increasing the pace of screening and our understanding of these potentially very powerful therapeutic cells."
It has been estimated that the ability to detect toxicity at an earlier stage of drug development could save the global pharmaceutical industry about eight billion US dollars annually. Dr Hart believes the Zyoxel technology also has the potential to reduce the amount of animal testing worldwide by about 10 per cent a year.
The company also received a 100,000-pounds investment from the Oxford University Challenge Seed fund. Funding for the original technology development largely came from the UK's Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council.
The Chinese investment was announced by Isis Innovation; the university's technology transfer company. Zyoxel is developing partnerships with pharmaceutical companies and anticipates that the first product sales will take place within a year.
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