An international biotechnology company
- LCT's History
Professor Elliott was Foundation Professor, Department of
Paediatrics at the University of Auckland and is a world leader
in diabetes and autoimmune-related research.
Living Cell Technologies has come this far thanks
to the tenacity and dedication of New Zealand entrepreneur David Collinson,
now a non-executive director of LCT.
Auckland-based Collinson has a son with diabetes. He saw first-hand
the immense difficulties in the daily management of the disease,
and he and his family were experiencing the problems it created
for the lifestyle of a developing child.
Collinson's despair at watching his small son cope with diabetes
led him in 1987 to the surgery of Professor Bob Elliott. Professor
Elliott was then in the early stages of his research into the
use of living cells to replace, or significantly reduce, the
dosage of insulin for diabetic sufferers.
When Collinson heard Elliott's impassioned explanation of
what he was researching - a treatment that could restore quality
of life to diabetics, and also vastly reduce the likelihood
of them suffering the little-discussed yet horrendous secondary
health issues of the disease, he committed himself, and his
money, to the cause.
Collinson says that learning and understanding what was ahead
for his son as he reached middle age - from the possibility
of a shortened lifespan to kidney and heart disease, problematic
eyesight, and the possibility of lower leg amputation - drew
him into supporting Professor Elliott's research.
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