publication date: Jul 25, 2011
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author/source: Cellular Dynamics International, Inc.
Cellular
Dynamics International, Inc. (CDI) today announced an agreement with
iPS Academia Japan, Inc., who will distribute CDI's
iCell® Cardiomyocytes,
the first commercially available product based on induced pluripotent stem
cells (iPSCs), in Japan.
This distribution agreement brings the vision of the two pioneers of
iPSC technology,
Dr. James Thomson and
Dr. Shinya Yamanaka,
a step closer to making the technology widely available to researchers
worldwide and thus impacting human health and biological research. Thomson is
CDI founder and Chief Scientific Officer, and Yamanaka is a member of iPS
Academia Japan's scientific advisory board.
Drs. Thomson and Yamanaka concurrently published in
Science and
Cell, respectively,
in 2007 on their breakthrough iPSC research, whereby they turned ordinary human
skin cells into pluripotent stem cells with the same characteristics and
potential as embryonic stem cells.
iPS Academia Japan was originally established to manage the patents and
technology arising from the work of Dr. Yamanaka of Kyoto University.
CDI was the first foreign company granted a license to Yamanaka's iPSC patent
portfolio by iPS Academia Japan,
announced in May 2010.
CDI is the world's largest manufacturer of cellular tools for drug
discovery and safety derived from iPSCs. The company currently manufactures
iCell Cardiomyocytes, human heart cells created from iPSCs, with several other
cell types including endothelial (blood vessel) cells, neurons, and liver cells
in development for launch within a year.
Osamu Yoshida, MD, Ph D, President and CEO
of iPS Academia Japan, stated, "Dr. Yamanaka's goal is to see the
application of iPSC technology utilized broadly to benefit the health and
well-being of people. Toward this end, iPS Academia Japan is pleased to partner
with Cellular Dynamics, the leader in iPSC-derived tissue manufacturing,
thereby making the benefits of this technology widely available to researchers
in Japan through our distribution and support
of CDI's iCell products."
Robert Palay, CEO and
chairman of the board of CDI, noted, "We are pleased that iPS Academia
Japan, of which Dr. Yamanaka is a member of their scientific advisory
board, chose to distribute CDI's iPSC-derived iCell products. This new
distribution agreement, along with our prior licensing agreement, sets the
stage for a strong partnership that will foster collaboration to move our
technology forward."
Chris Parker, VP and
Chief Commercial Officer of CDI, said, "CDI has made great strides in
industrializing the process of manufacturing iPSCs and terminal cell types in
the quantity, quality, and purity required for the pharmaceutical industry. We
are pleased to partner with a distributor in Japan who
shares our vision of delivering high quality iPSC-derived cellular tools to
researchers. This partnership puts CDI one step closer to making our cellular
research tools available worldwide."
About Cellular Dynamics International
Cellular Dynamics International, Inc. (CDI) is a leading developer and
marketer 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
iPSC technology, the production of pluripotent stem cell lines from adult
tissue. CDI was founded in 2004 by
James Thomson, a pioneer in human
pluripotent stem cell research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. CDI's facilities are
located in Madison, Wisconsin. See
www.cellulardynamics.com.
About iPS Academia Japan, Inc.
iPS Academia Japan, Inc. (AJ) is an affiliate of
Kyoto University, and
its main role is, among other activities, to manage and utilize the patents and
other intellectual properties held/controlled by Kyoto University and other universities in the field of
iPS cell technologies so that the research results might contribute to health
and welfare worldwide. AJ was established at Kyoto on June 2008.
AJ's patents portfolio consists of approximately 30 patent families in the iPS
cell technology as of June 2011 and
approximately 30 license arrangements have been executed with domestic or
international enterprises. See
http://ips-cell.net.