A tech research tool which could help in the fight against cancer has been licensed to Arriani Pharmaceuticals by the University of Manchester.
The university’s technology transfer company UMI3 Ltd has granted the exclusive licence for SenTraGor, which boosts the understanding of senescent cells’ role in age-related disorders including cancer.
The technology enables better detection of senescence – the ageing of cells.
Professors Vassilis Gorgoulis and Paul Townsend are behind the universally applicable method.
Professor Townsend (pictured below) described the licence as “ground-breaking” and said: “Cellular senescence is causally linked to ageing and has been implicated in a variety of age-related diseases such as cancer.
“But up to now, detecting senescence was problematic and infeasible in most widespread biological material.”
The agreement will see Arriani provide SenTraGor to research institutions, diagnostic labs, clinics and companies looking for new therapies and offering wider wellbeing services to the public.
Harry Lambridis, president and founder of Arriani, said: “We are proud to offer to the international scientific community the valuable outcome of the research conducted by Professors Vassilis Gorgoulis and Paul Townsend that will revolutionalise the detection of senescent cells.
“We strongly believe that SenTraGor will greatly contribute in the understanding of age-related biological processes and to this end we will work closely with the professors to enlarge the applications of SenTraGor, even beyond this field.”
Professor Townsend and Honorary Professor Vassilis Gorgoulis are world experts in cancer biology.
Professor Townsend said the agreement will bring considerable benefits to research and clinical practice and even beyond that around the world.
“Our method provides unheard-of advantages over any other available senescence detection products,” he said.
“It’s widely applicable, straightforward and specific. It will also help researchers make new breakthroughs into the causes of diseases, including cancer, as there will be a more effective understanding of phenomenon of cellular senescence.
“Moreover, its application can be expanded even to the cosmetics and food industries.”
Professor Gorgoulis (pictured above) added: “SenTraGor revolutionises the field of cellular aging and opens the door to a better understanding and treatment of various disorders.
“Many cancer types, degenerative diseases, even infertility, are thought to be senescence-related and our method introduces a powerful weapon in the medical armory against these conditions.”