Ortec(New York) reported initiation of a collaboration with Dr. Song Li of the Center for Tissue Engineering at theUniversity of California-Berkeleyto evaluate the potential of Ortec’s proprietary collagen scaffold for application to cardiovascular tissue regeneration.

The initial research will focus on the in vitro growth and differentiation of blood vessel cells, heart precursor cells and adult stem cells in Ortec’s collagen scaffold. If those results prove promising, Ortec’s collagen scaffold will be tested by Li’s group for cardiovascular therapeutic potential in animal models.

Ortec, a tissue-engineering company involved in the commercialization of a proprietary and patented technology to stimulate the repair and regeneration of human tissue, will have the commercial rights to any cardiovascular therapeutic applications that emerge from those studies.

LineaGen-U. of Utah pact

The University of Utah Health Sciences Center (Salt Lake City) and LineaGen Research (Somers, New York) reported a broad collaboration to combine their respective strengths to create an unparalleled clinical genomics infrastructure designed to accelerate the molecular understanding of complex diseases and ultimately to accelerate the development of novel molecular diagnostics and targeted treatments.

Under the collaboration, IBM will leverage its Clinical Genomics Solution to develop the information infrastructure to both integrate and query the large Utah Population Database and Utah Genetic Reference Project Database located at the University of Utah Health Sciences Center.

LineaGen, a commercial access provider to the databases, will provide general oversight and administration of the project for the university.