Date: 2012-08-02
Type of information:
Compound: induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) patent portfolio
Company: Lonza (Switzerland) iPS Academia Japan (Japan)
Therapeutic area:
Type agreement: licensing
Action mechanism:
Disease:
Details: Lonza 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 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.
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 iPSC technologies so that the research results contribute to health and welfare worldwide. AJ\'s patent portfolio consists of more than 60 patent families (the total number of patent applications is about 220 cases) in the iPSC technology as of April 2012, and about 50 license arrangements have been executed with domestic or international enterprises.
Financial terms:
Latest news:
