International Stem Cell Corp. (ISCO) – Developing Novel Stem Cells for Research and Therapy
The International Stem Cell Corp. is a fast growing North American biotechnology company focused on developing stem cell based therapies and biomedical products. The company has developed an influential new stem cell technology called parthenogenesis that promises to substantially improve the field of regenerative medicine by addressing the problem of immune-rejection.
As part of its therapeutic pipeline, ISCO’s scientists are focused on using the stem cells developed to treat diseases of the eye, liver and central nervous system, in areas where cell therapy has been clinically proven yet treatment options are limited by the availability of safe immune-matched human cells or tissue. The company’s lead development candidate is a human neural stem cell product to treat Parkinson’s disease (PD). Preclinical safety and efficacy data was recently presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience And a Phase I/IIa clinical study is expected to begin in the near future. In the trail ISCO will treat people with moderate Parkinson’s with a one-time transplant of neural stem cells. In animal studies the cells have been shown to be safe and also be able to reverse some of the symptoms of the disease. Interim results from this clinical trial could be available as early as the end of this year. The idea that a one-time injection of new cells can “cure” Parkinson’s disease has the potential to revolutionize the field. The Company also recently announced encouraging results from a study using the same neural stem cells to treat stroke.
With parthenogenesis, ISCO has developed a proprietary technique for creating histocompatible stem cells (hpSC). Parthenogenesis uses unfertilized human eggs to create parthenogenetic stem cells that can be immune-matched to millions of people. This process results in the cells inheriting a matching set of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes, which drastically reduces the possibility of the resulting cells being rejected by an individual’s immune system after transplantation, making a single cell line suitable for treating millions of individuals of differing genders, ages and racial background. hpSCs avoid ethical issues associated with the use or destruction of viable human embryos, and a fairly small number of such cell lines could provide enough immune-matched cells to cover a sizeable percentage of the world’s population.
Histocompatible stem cells offer the potential to create the first true stem cell bank, UniStemCell. This could be the foundation of ISCO’s research as well as the life science industry’s first collection of non-embryonic histocompatible human stem cells for research and commercial use.
In mid-March 2015, ISCO revealed that the Japan Patent Office had granted it a patent that covered its methods of making a bank of human stem cells from parthenogenetically activated eggs. The new patent extends the reach of the company’s intellectual property portfolio beyond the United States and European Union making it a very appealing partner.
Over time, ISCO could generate revenue from universal stem cell bank franchises across populations and from scientists accessing these lines. This would also provide additional validation of the hpSC lines as they will be tested and developed by others across a range of potential applications and, longer-term, will provide the company with royalties from the sales of each successful, hpSC-derived cellular therapeutic.
For more information, visit www.internationalstemcell.com
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The International Stem Cell Corp. is a fast growing North American biotechnology company focused on developing stem cell based therapies and biomedical products. The company has developed an influential new stem cell technology called parthenogenesis that promises to substantially improve the field of regenerative medicine by addressing the problem of immune-rejection.
As part of its therapeutic pipeline, ISCO’s scientists are focused on using the stem cells developed to treat diseases of the eye, liver and central nervous system, in areas where cell therapy has been clinically proven yet treatment options are limited by the availability of safe immune-matched human cells or tissue. The company’s lead development candidate is a human neural stem cell product to treat Parkinson’s disease (PD). Preclinical safety and efficacy data was recently presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience And a Phase I/IIa clinical study is expected to begin in the near future. In the trail ISCO will treat people with moderate Parkinson’s with a one-time transplant of neural stem cells. In animal studies the cells have been shown to be safe and also be able to reverse some of the symptoms of the disease. Interim results from this clinical trial could be available as early as the end of this year. The idea that a one-time injection of new cells can “cure” Parkinson’s disease has the potential to revolutionize the field. The Company also recently announced encouraging results from a study using the same neural stem cells to treat stroke.
With parthenogenesis, ISCO has developed a proprietary technique for creating histocompatible stem cells (hpSC). Parthenogenesis uses unfertilized human eggs to create parthenogenetic stem cells that can be immune-matched to millions of people. This process results in the cells inheriting a matching set of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes, which drastically reduces the possibility of the resulting cells being rejected by an individual’s immune system after transplantation, making a single cell line suitable for treating millions of individuals of differing genders, ages and racial background. hpSCs avoid ethical issues associated with the use or destruction of viable human embryos, and a fairly small number of such cell lines could provide enough immune-matched cells to cover a sizeable percentage of the world’s population.
Histocompatible stem cells offer the potential to create the first true stem cell bank, UniStemCell. This could be the foundation of ISCO’s research as well as the life science industry’s first collection of non-embryonic histocompatible human stem cells for research and commercial use.
In mid-March 2015, ISCO revealed that the Japan Patent Office had granted it a patent that covered its methods of making a bank of human stem cells from parthenogenetically activated eggs. The new patent extends the reach of the company’s intellectual property portfolio beyond the United States and European Union making it a very appealing partner.
Over time, ISCO could generate revenue from universal stem cell bank franchises across populations and from scientists accessing these lines. This would also provide additional validation of the hpSC lines as they will be tested and developed by others across a range of potential applications and, longer-term, will provide the company with royalties from the sales of each successful, hpSC-derived cellular therapeutic.
For more information, visit www.internationalstemcell.com
Please see disclaimer on the QualityStocks website: http://Disclaimer.QualityStocks.com
