The Animal Cell Technology Unit & the Portuguese Pharmaceutical Company Tecnimede established a unique collaboration protocol

Tecnimede and the Animal Cell Technology Unit most recent protocol is the largest research collaboration celebrated between iBET and one of its national industrial partners. The project, coordinated by Augusto Filipe, at Tecnimede, and Paula Alves and Catarina Brito, at iBET’s Animal Cell Technology Unit (ACTU), will ultimately allow the utilization of novel human in vitro cell models as innovative tools to approach neurodegenerative pathologies.

Classically, early discovery has been based on a target oriented approach, making use of biochemical assays using purified protein components that cannot predict the contributions of other potential interactions that occur in vivo or using extremely simplified cell-based assays that poorly correlate with the complexity of the human central nervous system. Making use of iBET’s expertise in bioengineering of stem cells and in tri-dimensional/3D cell culture systems, this novel project is expected to increase the success rate and accelerate the research & development process by enhancing the biological relevance of the in vitro models used in the initial preclinical stages of the discovery process.  "This new collaboration intends to innovate in the methodologies applicable to neuro-degenerative disorders research process, in order to contribute to speed up more effective therapies", says Catarina Brito.