SCIENTISTS in the region have joined forces with a US company in a bid to speed up the development of revolutionary stem cell therapies.

It is hoped that new therapies for patients with liver complaints could be used in hospitals within five years.

A team of stem cell researchers, based at Newcastle University, has formed a partnership with a US stem cell company that plans to invest £160,000 in its work.

The team, led by Colin McGuckin, professor of regenerative medicine at the university, will use the funding to further its worldbeating research using stem cells obtained from babies' umbilical cords.

At the same time, the team is developing and testing new tools for drug development that could be available for companies to buy in several years.

The funding will also pay for an additional researcher and for a research nurse who will work with new parents at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, to encourage them to donate their baby's umbilical cords to the group.

Having a good supply of cord blood is crucial for the research programme, so the nurse will explain to the baby's parents about the importance of contributing to the cord blood research.

The university researchers are also due to help the Minnesota-based company, called BioE, to test and develop new products that aim to improve the storage of cord blood.

Professor McGuckin's team, which is based at the UK Centre for Cord Blood at the university and which is a key part of the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, was the first in the world to produce embryoniclike stem cells from cord blood.

Stem cells have the potential to develop into any tissue type in the body and could therefore be used to develop a wide range of medical therapies.

Prof McGuckin said: "This partnership marks a major boost for North-East England.

"It fits closely with goals for a Newcastle Science City because regional leaders are promoting active relationships between the public sector and biotechnology industry as a key element of this.

"This research could have a huge impact not only on treating human disease, but also provide human tissues for drug development and testing, removing the uncertainty of whether new drugs will have side effects."