25th Jul 2005 07:00
Stem Cell Sciences plc25 July 2005 25 July 2005 Stem Cell Sciences plc US Patent and Trademark Office grants Stem Cell Selection Patent Stem Cell Sciences Ltd, (SCS) which recently listed on the London StockExchange's Alternative Investment Market (AIM), announced today that the USPatent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") has granted important additional claims tothe patented technology known as 'Stem Cell Selection'. 'Stem Cell Selection' refers to the methods and tools used to obtain purepopulations of stem cells used in drug discovery and cell therapies. The new claims (US Patent 6,878,542) cover methods of enriching for any type ofmammalian stem cell, from any cell source, based on introduced genes such asfluorescent markers or cell surface proteins. This extension broadens thegranted US claims to a similar scope to that already granted in otherterritories including the EU. SCS expects the broadening of the patent claims to generate considerable newbusiness through licensing of its technology to the US biopharmaceuticalindustry. Dr Tim Allsopp, Chief Scientific Officer of Stem Cell Sciences explained "Havinga sophisticated technology to derive highly purified populations of stem cells,for example, nerve, heart, liver or blood stem cells, is a fundamentalrequirement for almost all stem cell applications, including cell therapies". Dr Peter Mountford, President and CEO of Stem Cell Sciences, said, "This is avery important technology for our field. SCS is committed to facilitating broadaccess to its key technologies and reagents in order to advance stem cellresearch and development. The valuable 'tool box' nature of this technology hasalready provided multi-million dollar revenues for the Company. Developing newresearch partnerships and licensing agreements in the USA for the 'Stem CellSelection' technology is an important component of the Company's plans toestablish US based operations in 2006." The creation of Stem Cell Sciences USA will be the fourth leg of the Stem CellSciences global alliance, which includes science and business teams at Stem CellSciences UK (Edinburgh, UK), Stem Cell Sciences KK (Kobe, Japan) and Stem CellSciences Ltd (Melbourne, Australia)". Further information at www.stemcellsciences.com or contact: Nicky Hawkins, Trimedia Communications Telephone: 0131 272 2715 Email: [email protected] Notes to Editors: Stem cells are undifferentiated (un-specialised) cells which can divide to makecopies of themselves or differentiate (change) to become specialised cells of aspecific tissue such as neural cells or bloom cells. Stem Cell Sciences plc: Stem Cell Sciences Australia was founded in 1994 tocommercialise the stem cell research of Professor Austin Smith and Dr PeterMountford at the University of Edinburgh. In 2000 Stem Cell Sciences UK wasestablished, followed by Stem Cell Sciences KK Japan in April 2002, with theobjective of collaborative research with the RIKEN Centre for DevelopmentalBiology (RIKEN CDB) in Kobe, Japan. In July 2003, with the incorporation ofStem Cell Sciences Holdings in Scotland, Edinburgh became the Group'sheadquarters. On July 18 2005 Stem Cell Sciences plc listed on the London StockExchange's Alternative Investment Market (AIM). This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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