EMD Millipore, the life science division of Merck KGaA of Darmstadt, Germany, and VeriStem Technologies Inc. announced a collaboration to develop optimized technologies for the removal of undifferentiated stem cells from pluripotent stem cell cultures. The project will deliver scalable purification devices, validation methods and associated protocols for safe and effective delivery of large-scale stem cell therapies.
Large-scale “industrialized” production of stem cells is necessary to enable their advancement into human clinical trials and to effectively deliver the quantities required for drug discovery screening and lead optimization. To achieve this level of production, while adhering to rigorous quality standards, further progress is necessary in the areas of cell culture and scale-up, characterization, enrichment, and purification. Methods to remove undifferentiated cells that remain in culture and validate a process for consistent, robust removal are critical in the development of safe and effective delivery of stem cell-based therapies. EMD Millipore’s collaboration with VeriStem Technologies will address these issues and deliver a consistent and reproducible supply of cells.
“As more stem cell-based therapeutics progress towards clinical testing, the consistency, quality, and reproducibility of large-scale culture systems become an imperative,” notes Robert Shaw, Commercial Director of EMD Millipore’s Stem Cell Initiative. “The ability to ensure that a population of cells does not contain undifferentiated stem cells is critical to the success of clinical applications. The technologies developed as part of this collaboration will help enable this and move the field forward.”
“This collaboration brings together VeriStem’s expertise in the field of stem cells and EMD Millipore’s expertise in the development of purification platforms,” says Keith Wang, Chief Business Officer of VeriStem Technologies. “The success of large scale stem cell development will be catalyzed by such collaborations where innovative technologies and process expertise are brought together to develop unique solutions.”
EMD Millipore recently released data on the use of its Mobius CellReady 3 Liter single-use bioreactor system for large scale production of stem cells. This collaboration is an important step in the development of a platform of scalable, disposable production solutions to help enable manufacturers of cell-based therapies.
Date: September 18, 2012
Source: EMD Millipore
Filed Under: Drug Discovery
