Organizations hope customized media will accelerate development of clinical iPSC applications.

Lonza and the nonprofit organization Roslin Cells will combine their respective expertise for the development of customized cell culture media and processes for generating pluripotent stem cells (PSCs). The collaboration will exploit Roslin Cells’ capabilities in developing cGMP-grade pluripotent stem cells with Lonza’s expertise in primary cell media formulation. The partners will be able to share each other’s technologies and IP to help speed the development of PSC culture media and systems for both research and clinical applications.

Lonza says the collaboration will give a real boost to the further development of its PSC research and clinical tools portfolio. “Roslin Cells brings a unique perspective to the challenge of commercializing therapeutic cells and gives Lonza access to Roslin’s pluripotent cell lines that are extraordinarily well characterized for application in the clinic,” comments Phil Vanek, head of innovation and business development at Lonza Bioscience.

“There is a terrific fit between Roslin Cells and Lonza,” adds Aidan Courtney, Roslin Cells’ CEO. “Collaborating with Lonza will allow us to combine our expertise in the derivation and characterization of pluripotent cells with their vast experience with cell culture media development and cell production.” The deal between Roslin Cells and Lonza was brokered by bioscience commercialization specialist, Evolution ls.

Roslin Cells was established in 2006 by the Roslin Institute, with support from the University of Edinburgh, the development agency Scottish Enterprise, and the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service. The organization generates GMP-grade clinical human embryonic stem cell lines, produced under U.K. Human Tissue Authority license. Research-grade human embryonic stem cell lines are also available for preclinical research and development.

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