Swiss-based big pharma Lonza said it has entered a worldwide, non-exclusive licensing agreement with iPS Academia Japan, Inc. for its induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) patent portfolio.
In 2007, Dr Shinya Yamanaka and colleagues at Kyoto University became the first to successfully convert adult human cells to an embryonic stem cell-like state. This process called cellular reprogramming, generated the world’s first human induced pluripotent stem cell line. The following June, iPS Academic Japan was established to manage the intellectual property stemming from this seminal discovery and others made by Dr Yamanaka and his team.
By gaining rights to these patents, Lonza said it is adding to its market leading portfolio of cell therapy services and products that include process development and assay development as well as manufacturing therapeutic cells under current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP). The company is poised to apply its considerable expertise in the manufacture of therapeutic cells to iPSC generation and cell banking. Producing cGMP-grade cell banks is seen as an important first milestone necessary to bring an iPSC-based therapy to the clinic.
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