Product News: Cellular Dynamics Issued U.S. Patent Covering Differentiation of iPS Cells into Endothelial, Hematopoietic Cells

Cellular Dynamics International, announced today that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) issued Patent No. 8,557,580 entitled "Methods and Compositions for the Differentiation of Stem Cells" on October 15. The newly issued patent relates to the method by which induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are differentiated into the diverse types of endothelial (blood vessel) and hematopoietic (blood) cells.

This method is used by CDI for the creation of its iCell® and MyCell® Products and enables the production of high quality cells at industrial volumes. Endothelial cells are important for the study of vascular disease research and therapy, including atherosclerosis (the build-up of plaques within blood vessels that can lead to tissue damage and even death), the body’s inflammatory responses to general injury, and the generation of new blood vessels and tissues during healing. Hematopoietic cells include a diverse set of cell types, including erythroid cells (red blood cells), lymphocytes (white blood cells), and myelocytes (bone marrow cells). Readily available, high quality sources of these cells may lead to improvements in many clinical settings including cell-based therapies, cancer treatments, organ transplantation, and treatment for autoimmune diseases.

Bob Palay, chairman and chief executive officer of CDI, said, “CDI is committed to innovation and working to create the tissue cells critical to research impacting human health. This patent covers a reliable, scalable method for creating a consistent supply of blood and blood vessel cells in high quality, quantity and purity from iPS cells and continues CDI’s intellectual property strategy of assembling a broad portfolio of patents and licenses for all of our products.”

This is the fifth patent issued to CDI this year, adding to an intellectual property portfolio of over 700 patents.