£2.5 million funding for blood manufacture research
“If successful then this will not only be of great benefit for people in Scotland but also has the potential to deliver significant economic gain” – Mark Batho, Chief Executive of the Scottish Funding Council
A ground-breaking project to generate red blood cells and establish a new bioengineering and manufacturing capacity for Scotland has been boosted with £2.5 million from the Scottish Funding Council.
The funding which will be spread over five years, will go to four Scottish universities working with Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish Blood Transfusion Service to develop the research: Glasgow, Heriot-Watt, Edinburgh and Dundee.
The industrial generation of blood from stem cells would solve the current problems occurred in maintaining supply of blood for transfusion, managing the risk of infection and ensuring compatibility between donor and recipient.
The cutting-edge project, which is unique to the UK, has the potential to not only be transformational for public good but also to deliver major economic benefits for Scotland.
Increasing clinical demand
There is a massive unmet and increasing clinical demand for blood – in the UK alone 2.2 million units of blood are used each year at a cost of around £140 per unit.
It is estimated that the UK market could be worth up to £308 million per year and worldwide over £11.2 billion per year (based on an estimate of 80 million units).
The funding will support three key posts at Glasgow, Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt universities and contribute towards two further posts at Dundee University and the Innogen Centre within Edinburgh University.
'Significant economic gain'
Mark Batho, Chief Executive of the Scottish Funding Council, said: “This exciting collaboration aims to provide a solution to a long-standing problem and one that touches many lives; if successful then this will not only be of great benefit for people in Scotland but has the potential also to deliver significant economic gain.”
From laboratory to industry
Joanne Mountford, of the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service and University of Glasgow, said: “This funding will allow us to really start translating basic laboratory science into industrial processes.
"One of the main challenges of this project is the very large number of cells that will be needed; therefore we will need to develop new bio-process and engineering solutions alongside the biology. Funding for such cross-disciplinary work is uncommon and we are delighted to receive this investment to truly integrate these approaches.”
Learn more about translational medicine in Scotland on the Scottish Development International website