Cellular Dynamics International (CDI) and Roche report the completion of a two-year collaboration intended to substantiate the ability of CDI's iCell® Cardiomyocytes to assess potential cardiotoxic effects of drug candidates in development. The companies transitioned to a standard supply agreement under which iCell Cardiomyocytes will be incorporated into Roche's drug development decision-making process.
"CDI and Roche have developed and demonstrated, respectively, a more efficient tool to reveal potential cardiotoxicity in their drug development candidates,” says Chris Parker, chief commercial officer of CDI. iCell Cardiomyocytes are produced from induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived human heart cells.
CDI and Roche initiated their collaboration in March 2009 to interrogate CDI's iCell Cardiomyocytes against a well-categorized compound reference set. The goal was to test the ability of the cardiomyocytes to predict drug-induced, potentially life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias.
The studies included longitudinal genetic and molecular characterizations of the cardiomyocytes and assessment of their performance across a variety of testing platforms. Multiple publications based on this research are being prepared for submission to peer-reviewed journals, the companies report.