Contact:
Joleen Rau
Senior Director, Marketing & Communications
Cellular Dynamics International, Inc.
(608) 310-5142
jrau@cellulardynamics.com
Robert E. Flamm, Ph.D.
Russo Partners LLC
(212) 845-4226
robert.flamm@russopartnersllc.com
Investor Relations
Gitanjali Jain Ogawa
The Trout Group, LLC
(646) 378-2949
gogawa@troutgroup.com
Hillarie Windish
Research Program Officer
Jain Foundation
425-882-1492
admin@jain-foundation.org
Patient-Derived iPSC Lines Will be Used as Disease Models for
Basic Research and Drug Discovery
SEATTLE and MADISON, Wis., Dec. 4, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Jain
Foundation, a non-profit organization whose mission is to cure muscular
dystrophies caused by dysferlin protein deficiency, today announced the
signing of a Master Service Agreement with Cellular Dynamics
International (CDI) (Nasdaq:ICEL). CDI will create five induced
pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines from patients with these
dystrophies. As there are currently no effective treatments for these
genetic disorders, establishing model iPSC lines is an important step
toward developing new drugs and therapies for these patients. Terms of
the agreement were not disclosed.
Dysferlin is a protein thought to be involved in skeletal muscle
repair. Genetic defects in the gene that codes for the protein result
in two types of muscular dystrophy: Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type
2B (LGMD2B) and Miyoshi muscular dystrophy 1 (MMD1). Symptoms include
weakness and progressive muscle wasting, and onset typically occurs in
young adults.
CDI will employ their MyCell(R) Products line to create LGMD2B/Miyoshi
patient-derived iPSC lines. iPSC technology is based on reprogramming
adult cells to a pluripotent stem cell state, whereby the resulting
iPSCs, and the somatic cells derived from them, carry the genotypic
backgrounds of the original donors and model the disease. A primary
goal of the Jain Foundation is to use these disease models for drug
discovery.
“iPSC technology promises to provide a path to better understand these
devastating genetic diseases so that researchers can develop
therapies,” said Plavi Mittal, President and CEO of the Jain
Foundation. “CDI’s ability to make iPSCs at high quality and purity
from any individual, including LGMD2B patients, will provide scientists
new tools to understand and address these debilitating forms of
muscular dystrophy. We look forward to working with CDI to develop the
iPSC lines.”
Bob Palay, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CDI, said, “This is
the second agreement we have entered into with an organization focused
on developing new therapies for muscular dystrophy, demonstrating that
research partners are confident in leveraging CDI’s technical expertise
to accelerate their discoveries. CDI continues to be at the forefront
of innovation and is developing additional cell types, including
skeletal myoblasts that may be relevant to work supported by the Jain
Foundation. We are excited that the Jain Foundation shares our vision
that iPSC technology is a promising path forward to advance healthcare
discoveries.”
About Cellular Dynamics International, Inc.
Cellular Dynamics International, Inc. (CDI) is a leading developer of
next-generation stem cell technologies for drug development, cell
therapy, tissue engineering and organ regeneration. CDI harnesses its
unique manufacturing technology to produce differentiated tissue cells
from any individual’s stem cell line in industrial quality, quantity
and purity. CDI is accelerating the adoption of pluripotent stem cell
technology, adapting its methods to fit into standard clinical practice
by the creation of individual stem cell lines from a standard blood
draw. CDI was founded in 2004 by Dr. James Thomson, a pioneer in human
pluripotent stem cell research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
CDI’s facilities are located in Madison, Wisconsin. See
www.cellulardynamics.com.
Follow us on Twitter @CellDynamics or www.twitter.com/celldynamics
About the Jain Foundation
The Jain Foundation is a non-profit foundation whose mission is to cure
muscular dystrophies caused by dysferlin protein deficiency, which
includes the clinical presentations Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type
2B (LGMD2B) and Miyoshi muscular dystrophy 1 (MMD1). The foundation is
privately funded and does not solicit funding from patients or other
sources. The Foundation’s focused strategy includes funding and
actively monitoring the progress of scientific research projects in key
pathways towards a cure, providing financial and logistical support to
promising drug candidates to accelerate them to clinical trials,
funding clinical trials and studies, encouraging collaboration among
scientists, and educating LGMD2B/Miyoshi patients about their disease
and helping them with their diagnosis (e.g., funding dysferlin protein
and gene mutational analysis). See www.jain-foundation.org
Forward looking statements
This press release includes forward-looking statements about our
anticipated results that involve risks and uncertainties. Some of the
information contained in this press release, including, but not limited
to, statements as to Cellular Dynamics International’s product
development efforts, the impact of its iPSC technology, and its plans,
objectives, expectations and strategy for its business, contains
forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties
that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from
those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Any
statements that are not statements of historical fact are
forward-looking statements. When used, the words “believe,” “plan,”
“intend,” “anticipate,” “target,” “estimate,” “expect” and the like,
and/or future tense or conditional constructions (“will,” “may,”
“could,” “should,” etc.), or similar expressions, identify certain of
these forward-looking statements. Important factors which could cause
actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking
statements are detailed in filings made by Cellular Dynamics
International with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Cellular
Dynamics International undertakes no obligation to update or revise any
such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or
circumstances.
