Plasticell, JCR Pharma Enter Cell Technology Pact

Plasticell has signed a collaboration agreement with JCR Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. of Ashiya, Japan, to discover custom stem cell culture media using its combinatorial stem cell technology, CombiCult. Plasticell will work with JCR scientists to deploy CombiCult to discover GMP-ready protocols for therapeutic applications. Financial terms were not disclosed.
 
“Plasticell’s core capability to provide customers with optimized serum- and xeno-free GMP-grade stem cell differentiation or expansion protocols, which exclude patented factors and contain small molecule substitutes, together with the knowledge we have accumulated from a decade of differentiating all types of stem cells into a multitude of different cell types, has great potential to enhance the competitiveness of the Japanese stem cell effort,” said Dennis Saw, chief executive of Plasticell. “The attractiveness of our technology is evidenced by this timely collaboration with JCR, the leading Japanese pharma in the stem cell field.”
 
“Plasticell’s CombiCult is a unique technology which enables us to speed up our R&D effort, potentially contributing to reducing cost, project risk and time to market for our products,“ said Dr. Tachibana, general manager at JCR’s Research Division.