MADISON, Wis., July 15 Cellular Dynamics International (CDI) today announced that it has exclusively in-licensed a US-issued patent portfolio on optimizing the stem cell differentiation selection process and on using heart cells (cardiomyocytes) in drug testing.
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The license, obtained from Dr. Loren Field and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), covers two important concepts for using stem cell-derived cells for drug screening. First, the Field patents cover a cell purification strategy that enables greater than 90 percent purity of any type of cells. Secondly, the Field patents cover the use of stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes for drug testing. Financial terms of the license were not disclosed.
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"CDI is building an industrial pipeline and automated process enabling us to plug in different cell types and generate large quantities of purified cells," said Chris Kendrick-Parker, chief commercial officer of CDI. "That is the primary requirement for commercial application of these cells as tools in the pharmacology and toxicity testing market. Similar to our recently announced in-licensed patent portfolio from Mount Sinai School of Medicine, the IUPUI agreement ensures that we have a commercial advantage in this area, providing our customers with the comfort that they are unencumbered when they do business with us."
Brad Fravel, business development manager at Indiana University Research & Technology Corporation said, "As a leader in the pluripotent stem cell field, CDI is a great licensing partner for IUPUI. We are confident CDI will run with this technology, exploiting it to its fullest potential."
The license enables CDI to optimize the process of developing and purifying different cell types created from human pluripotent stem cells, including the company's first commercially available product line, human cardiomyocytes. Under the licensed technology, pluripotent stem cells are engineered to include a selectable "marker." As the stem cells begin to differentiate into different terminal cell types (e.g. heart, blood, neural cells, etc.), the marker allows researchers to identify and select a particular cell type (e.g. heart cells) and produce a highly purified and functional cell population.
The license also covers the use of cardiomyocytes purified through this technology for drug testing. While cardiomyocytes are the company's entree into the market, the company has programs in place for developing multiple cell types, and the Field patents enable the company to develop them into highly purified populations. CDI is using the Field technology in conjunction with the patents it has licensed from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), UW-Madison's tech-transfer vehicle, to create a pipeline that mass produces cells for large-scale drug screening campaigns at pharmaceutical companies and for regenerative medicine applications.
In addition the license, which includes patents pending at the European Patent Office, also allows CDI to sublicense to other companies and institutions.
About Cellular Dynamics International, Inc.
Cellular Dynamics International, Inc. (CDI) is a leading developer of next-generation stem cell technologies for drug development and personalized medicine applications. CDI harnesses the power of pluripotent stem cells and their ability to differentiate into any cell type for world-class drug development tools. In addition, it is the leader in iPS technology, the production of pluripotent stem cell lines from adult tissue. CDI was founded in 2004 by Dr. James Thomson, a pioneer in human embryonic stem cell research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Tactics II Ventures, a Wisconsin-based venture capital fund. CDI's facilities are located in Madison, Wisconsin. See www.cellulardynamics.com.
MEDIA CONTACTS: Joleen Rau Senior Director, Marketing & Communications Cellular Dynamics International, Inc. (608) 310-5142 [email protected] Robert E. Flamm, Ph.D. Russo Partners LLC [email protected] (212) 845-4226 Tony Russo Russo Partners LLC [email protected] (212) 845-4251
SOURCE Cellular Dynamics International (CDI)
