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Sigma Life Science receives license for iPS cell patent portfolio from AJFeb 23, 2012 (Datamonitor via COMTEX) -- Sigma-Aldrich Corporation, a life science and high technology company, has announced that Sigma Life Science, the company's biological products and services research business, has acquired a worldwide license to use Kyoto University's induced pluripotent stem, or iPS, cell patent portfolio. The tools will include novel iPS-cells, iPS-cell derived primary cells, novel assays, custom cell line development and ADME/Toxicology services. Under the terms of the agreement, iPS Academia Japan, Inc., or AJ, will receive a license fee from Sigma-Aldrich. iPS cell technology can create pluripotent stem cells from the normal adult cells of a patient. Pluripotent stem cells are capable of differentiating into many specialized primary cell types needed for research, such as cardiomyocytes, hepatocytes, neurons, and muscle cells. With access to differentiated cells from patients with the condition of interest, or healthy human cells engineered to contain disease-specific genetics, researchers may obtain predictive accuracy, the company said. Sigma Life Science's iPS cell-based technologies, along with its existing stem cell product portfolio of serum-free cell culture products, cell culture media, 3D matrices, growth factors, and antibodies, will provide comprehensive support for iPS cell-related research. "Our license with Kyoto University grants us the freedom to operate under Kyoto University's induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell patent portfolio in the increasingly important field of stem-cell based R&D. Researchers currently use primary cells derived from techniques that lack consistency and the ability to genetically engineer cells. Using the Kyoto iPS cell technology and our zinc finger protein technologies, we hope to generate stable, defined sets of cells and subsequently derived tissues whose predictive power will allow us to develop a new paradigm in assay development," says David Smoller, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer at Sigma-Aldrich. "Thus, our Sigma-Aldrich scientists may be able to guide cells through the critical series of maturation steps in ways no one has done previously and also add reporter genes into these cells so that researchers can directly visualize the true biology of cellular processes." http://www.datamonitor.com Republication or redistribution, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without prior written consent. Datamonitor shall not be liable for errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon |