Wednesday, October 5, 2011

MIT's Langer joins Advanced Cell's board

By Lori Valigra, Mass High Tech correspondent

MIT professor and serial entrepreneur Robert Langer has joined the board of directors of regenerative medicine company Advanced Cell Technology Inc. (ACT) of Marlborough, where he also will chair the board’s scientific advisory committee.

Langer, a pioneer in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, has more than 800 issued and pending patents, and his inventions have been licensed or sublicensed to more than 220 pharmaceutical, chemical, biotechnology and medical device companies. He is the most cited engineer in history.

“His expertise in cross-disciplinary research and product development efforts and professional collaborations will be invaluable to us,” ACT’s CEO Gary Rabin, also a board member, said in making the announcement. The third board member at ACT is Alan Shapiro, a professor of banking and finance at the University of Southern California.

Langer said joining ACT at this pivotal juncture in stem cell therapy history “appeals to the scientist in me.” He added, “ACT is poised to make a substantial contribution to the progression of regenerative medicine, with a potential to have a significant impact on the treatment of diseases, especially ones for which current medicines and treatments are not adequate.”

Langer served as a member of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Science Board from 1995 to 2002 and was its chairman from 1999 to 2002. Langer has had a hand in founding a large number of Massachusetts life sciences companies, including Momenta Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: MNTA), Acusphere Inc., Selecta Biosciences, Pulmatrix Inc., Pervasis Therapeutics Inc., Semprus BioSciences, Taris Biomedical and Bind Biosciences.

He has received more than 200 major awards including the Lemelson-MIT prize, the world’s largest prize for invention, for being “one of history’s most prolific inventors in medicine.” In addition, he recently won the 2011 Warren Alpert Foundation Prize, which he shares with cardiac surgeon Alain F. Carpentier of Paris.

Time magazine and CNN named Langer as one of the 100 most important people in America and one of the 18 top people in science or medicine in America, while Parade magazine named him one of six “Heroes whose research may save your life.”

“Bob is one of the most accomplished scientists in the world,” said Robert Lanza, MD and chief scientific officer of ACT. “Bob’s experience and leadership in successfully guiding biomedical development programs from the research stage through commercialization will bring an invaluable perspective to our board of directors.” Lanza added that Langer’s experience in regenerative medicine and stem cell-derived therapies will help him make significant contributions to ACT.

ACT last month won approval from the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to start its first human embryonic stem cell trial in Europe by treating patients for a form of macular degeneration.