A Cambridge stem cell company is seeking shelter from its creditors as it mounts a search for buyers for its technology.

MedCell Bioscience, based at the Babraham Research Campus, is seeking a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) after it was unable to attract the funding - either from existing shareholders or new backers - needed to continue developing its technologies.
 
Founded in 2002 MedCell started out life developing stem cell technology -licensed from the Royal Veterinary College - to treat injured racehorses, but had turned its attention in recent years to applying the technology to musculoskeletal injuries in humans.
 
Despite attracting big names like Dr David Glover, former Cambridge Antibody Technology chief medical officer to the board, MedCell was not able to find the backing to make the transition to human medicine.
 
The company, which acquired another local stem cell company in the form of NovaThera in June 2008, has proposed a CVA in order to give the company the time in which to find buyers for the various parts of the business. The proposal is to be voted on at a meeting of creditors in December.
 
NovaThera was spun out from Imperial College London in 2003.
 
Business Weekly understands that there is already robust interest from potential buyers, with a total of 12 separate discussions currently taking place, some of them with "large international companies" and four of them deemed to be at an "advanced stage." The Company hopes that, under the CVA, a successful sale of the technologies would realise sufficient funds to repay creditors and retain some value for the shareholders.
 
COO David Mountford explained “over the last year funders have been caught in the headlights of the current economic climate and have seemed unwilling or unable to make any decisions.  MedCell’s technologies, however, continue to show great promise and with the Company’s MS-ten stem cell programme now within touching distance of a first in man study we remain optimistic that the programmes will be able to fulfil their potential under new ownership.”  
 
The company currently employs a total of seven, including founders and executive directors, David Mountford and Kenneth McGarrell. The hope is that the employees will be retained by any prospective buyers.
 
The four key technology assets are VetCell Bioscience, MedCell's animal health regenerative medicine business and associated IP; MS-ten, a human tendon/ligament regenerative medicine research programme and IP; and the two technology areas it acquired when it bought NovaThera: TheraGlass, bioactive glass technology for synthetic bone replacement and drug delivery; and Bioprocessing, IP know-how and hardware in stem cell bioprocessing.
 
NovaThera raised a total of £4m in investment before being acquired. MedCell raised around £2m up to its purchase of NovaThera, raising a further £550k in December last year.