Thursday, January 16, 2014

International Stem Cell Corp. (ISCO) Continues Development of Stem Cell Bank to Support Therapeutic Programs

International Stem Cell Corp. was the first to develop and perfect a new class of human stem cells called parthenogenetic stem cells, which are created from unfertilized human eggs. The company’s stem cells present superior immune matching capabilities and can be used in millions of people regardless of sex or racial background, with minimal expectation of immune rejection after transplantation.

Based on this stem cell technology, ISCO is currently focused on three key therapeutic programs to treat incurable diseases of the brain, liver, and cornea.

Parkinson’s disease is the second most prevalent neurodegenerative diseases, affecting approximately 4 percent of the population aged 50 years and older. Leveraging its key clinical research agreement with Duke University, ISCO is evaluating its stem cell-derived neural stem cells for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. The company has coordinated a team of leading experts to develop techniques and designs as well as to provide guidance for the company’s investigational new drug (IND) submission for this indication. ISCO plans on submitting its IND to the FDA this year.

Chronic liver disease (including hepatitis C) is the third most common cause of death due to chronic diseases in persons 35 to 64 years old. Direct health care expenditures for chronic and acute liver disease in the U.S. alone range from $60 billion to more than $100 billion annually.
ISCO’s scientific team is developing superior methods to create pure populations of hepatocyte, the main tissue of the liver, that could be used in transplantation using HLA homozygous parthenogenetic stem cell lines to avoid the cells being immune rejected by the recipient’s body.

Approximately 10 million people in the world are blind due to corneal damage, representing a large unmet medical need, mostly in the developing world. Additionally, there is an opportunity to develop corneas as a research product for the drug testing market. Scientists at ISCO have developed and filed patents on a process that creates human corneal tissue from parthenogenetic stem cells. It is anticipated that this program will be commercialized through ISCO’s subsidiary in India in partnership with the Insight Bioventures, India.

Through continued enrollment of egg donors and ongoing optimization of its methodology for the creation of additional HLA homozygous lines, ISCO is expanding its bank of parthenogenetic stem cell lines, which are critical to the success of the company’s therapeutic programs.

For more information visit www.internationalstemcell.com

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